


The End Depends On Us

by YuriEvansFCY



Category: Angel Beats!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cinderella Elements, F/F, F/M, Inspired by Ever After (1998), Multiple Pairings, curious casting choices but bear with me, ever after au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2019-10-16 07:46:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 64,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17545583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YuriEvansFCY/pseuds/YuriEvansFCY
Summary: Servitude is her cage, his is the crown. / Or, a prince and a peasant find love in a web of lies. Ever After AU.





	1. Papa's Final Journey

 

_"Once upon a time, there lived a young girl who loved her father very much..."_

* * *

Eight-year-old Yuri Nakamura wriggled with a joyful energy that her brand new dress could barely contain, for today was a day unlike any other. Today, her father was returning from another one of his business trips. Every time he had to go away for so long, he made sure to make up for his absence with treasures especially for her. Books, hair bows, candies and toys… She was his best girl, he told her, so he couldn't help but spoil her when he missed her so much.

But going by the letter he'd written her, this time he had really outdone himself.

"Oh, Masami, it feels just like Christmas," Yuri gushed as her maidservant did her best to adjust her dress sleeves. "I get a mother  _and_ sisters all in one day!"

"Yeah, it's going to be very exciting around here," the older girl admitted, fingers now working the dress strings nimbly into a knot. With Yuri this wound up, she knew she was working against time. "What with a baroness and all—hey,  _hold still!"_

It was too late; as soon as she'd felt the strands tug tight, Yuri made a mad dash for the mirror and was already smoothing out the front of her gown. Masami huffed the bangs out of her eyes and scampered after her to tighten the strings. Shiina Iwasawa, Yuri's other servant as well as Masami's mother, kept a calm eye on them while she entered the bedroom with two armfuls of linens.

"Nakamura-san deserves happiness after all this time, bringing up the child on his own," she said matter-of-factly, shutting one armful in the wardrobe before heading to the bed to fold the rest. A rare soft thoughtfulness took over her normally stern-looking features. "She must be lovely."

"I hope she likes me," Yuri said, playing restlessly with a long lock of hair.

Shiina joined her at the mirror, an astonished certainty in her sharp red eyes as she touched Yuri's shoulder.

"She will love you," the woman said firmly, and with the other hand she gave Yuri's cheek a quick pat. "Just be the little angel I know is in there somewhere."

Masami gave a musical giggle as she re-tied her dress. "And don't go chewing on the bones at dinner, you'll give yourself away!"

Yuri's pout of feigned offense turned into conceding cackles, but Shiina gave Masami one of her infamous scolding looks that cut the young teenager's laughter short. But as the Iwasawas' attention was elsewhere, the sound of a rock smacking against brick launched Yuri out of their clutches once more.

"Yuri, your father arrives any moment!" Shiina gasped after her.

Ignoring their protests, she tumbled across the bed and scrambled to the window just as another rock hit the siding. The orange-haired culprit stood out in the grass below, squinting up at her expectantly as he readied a third pebble between his fingers.

"Otonashi, I told you – not today!" Yuri hollered down at him.

He blinked dumbly for a second, then turned his dropped jaw into a big obnoxious grin. "You look like a  _girl!_ "

"That's what I am, moron!"

"Yeah, but today you look it!" Otonashi jeered.

Yuri clutched the window sill threateningly. "Boy or girl, I can still whip you!"

"Hah!"

They both made a run for it, Yuri almost knocking Masami over on the stairs and making Shiina's head spin as she darted for the front door. She heard Shiina reprimanding her and Masami claiming she could see the carriages in the distance, but she never minded it. Yuzuru Otonashi was her best friend but he had a smart mouth, and there was  _always_ enough time to make him eat his words!

Conceding defeat, Shiina and Masami took a few more minutes to ready the house and then joined the other servants out front just as the cavalcade came riding in. Matsushita the Fifth, as jolly as he was strong, was the first to greet the Nakamura patriarch with a hearty handshake.

"Welcome home, Nakamura-san," Matsushita said warmly, while his good-humored old friend was still laughingly reeling from his strength. "I see you have brought us a baroness."

"I have brought you an entire household, Matsushita," Kaishou replied, somehow wrapping an arm around his shoulder as they strolled toward one particular carriage. Then, after studying each face he'd missed so much, he scanned the line in slight confusion. "But I seem to be missing a daughter."

The two men exchanged a hopeless knowing wince of a smile, and turned back just in time to see the carriage door open. Out stepped a girl of about ten years of age, golden brown hair veiling a pair of skeptical silver eyes. She picked up the skirts of her periwinkle dress and hopped easily onto the dirt. Behind her, a younger sister poked her head out, revealing a cherubic face with long pink tresses, matching eyes, and a pearl pink gown. She squinted curiously at the manor before shyly falling into step behind the first.

Shiina and Masami held their breath in anticipation. Two precious girls such as these… then who was the mother that had raised them?

And so she emerged, first a dainty hand from behind the curtains, and then a tall and striking beauty dressed in silver that descended from the carriage with utmost nobility. Eyes pink like her younger daughter's but cool and sleek like the elder's, with chestnut brown curls framing an elegantly angled face.

"Oh, Kaishou," she cooed, raising a gloved hand to her lips as she studied the manor. "It's absolutely charming, really."

Shiina and Masami stared at the woman in admiration. No beauty in the world could match that of their beloved lady and mistress, but there was no denying that Kaishou had chosen an exquisite wife. This woman would surely raise Yuri in fairness and grace.

From the glowing look in Kaishou's eyes, he was thinking the same thing... and then a piercing shriek cut through the air and sullied the moment in a blur of mud and grass.

"Papa!" Yuri yelled gleefully, leaping into the strong arms that had opened wide for her. Kaishou hollered with just as much joy and laughter and picked her up to plant a sloppy kiss on her unsoiled cheek.

"Look at you! Just as I left!" he proclaimed, spinning her around as he surveyed the mess. "I'd bet anything your friend Otonashi is around here somewhere."

"Take a look!" Yuri nodded over his shoulder with an earsplitting grin. "I  _slaughtered_ him."

Kaishou obediently turned, still hugging his daughter close. Her victim trudged shamefully into view, his entire being absolutely caked in mud. He hardly would have guessed the boy was Otonashi – even his signature orange hair had become swampy clumps of brown.

Unable to help himself, Kaishou let out a hoot of laughter at his daughter's antics.

"Well, so you did!" he said, setting her back down. He looked her over, tsking at the filth that covered her perfectly good dress. "I'd hoped to present a little lady… but I guess you'll have to do." Taking her by her shoulders, he turned his mud-splattered progeny to face their new family. "Yuri, allow me to introduce the Baroness Hinami Fukuda and her daughters Hisako and Yui."

Hinami, who had been taking all of this in with a raised brow, curved her thin lips into a smile.

"Hello, Yuri. At last we meet. Your father speaks of nothing else," she said. Yuri matched her smile and rocked shyly in Kaishou's arms. "Ladies, say hello to your new stepsister."

The girls curtsied in perfect unison. "Very nice to meet you!"

Yuri could not stop smiling as she offered her best curtsy in return. Her father was back, she had a mother again, and finally she was a sister too.

She was certain in this moment, life would never be the same.

* * *

At night, as Kaishou was putting his daughter to bed in front of a crackling fire, he finally procured for her an extra gift from his travels. Yuri reached into the small burlap sack and held a book up to the light.

"Utopia," she read aloud, and looked questioningly at her father.

"It means 'paradise,'" said Kaishou. Sitting down at the edge of her bed, he took the book and flipped through the pages. "It might be a bit thick for an eight-year-old, but I thought it would make a good addition to our library."

Yuri retrieved her gift and ran her fingers along the smooth paper covering. Bringing back at least one book from his travels was one of his many traditions. Among the earliest of her memories was the beginning of nightly bedtime stories. Her mother used to sing, but he never could (or so he joked regularly), so it was books that they turned to after her mother died. Sometimes, if she read from their growing library without him, it was partly so she could hear his voice in her head while he was gone. In time, she'd learned to love books just as much as he did.

"Will you read some?" she asked, looking up at him hopefully. It was tradition after all, but…

"It's been a very long day," Kaishou reminded her.

Although she was disappointed, Yuri brightened at the memories of today. "And you are a husband now."

Kaishou chuckled. "Yeah, a husband. But a father first and forever." He reached over and lovingly mussed her purple bangs, then looked her in the eyes. "We've been two peas in a pod for a long time, you and I… I'm sure it'll take some getting used to."

He gestured with a snap for her to crawl into bed, then tucked her in when she obeyed. But her eyes were glowing with too much happy energy for sleep.

"Did you see the way they ate their supper?" Yuri asked in complete reverence, hugging  _Utopia_ to her chest. "It was  _perfect._ Like a dance!"

"Do you like them?"

"Very much."

"That's good," Kaishou said with a nod, though his pleased grin turned apologetic. "Because I have to go to Osaka in a couple of weeks."

Yuri sat up in bed, looking extremely cross with him. "But you just got back!"

"I know, I know…" the man said sheepishly.

"For how long?"

Kaishou did his best to cover up a wince. "Only… three weeks."

"One!" Yuri countered.

"Two."

" _One!_ "

Although he was worse at disguising laughter, he managed to meet her eyes and say sternly, " _Two."_

But his daughter was just as stubborn as both her parents, and she stared defiantly at him for a few seconds before he thought of a good deal-breaker and held out his fist. Unwavering, she accepted his challenge and they broke into a good clean game of rock-paper-scissors.

Of course Yuri was the champion. What was it, did he keep subconsciously choosing paper? Maybe it was just that his little girl was getting too clever for him.

"Alright,  _one_ ," Kaishou conceded. He could never say no to his favorite girls, no matter the cost. But he snatched up the book as he left her with a kiss on the cheek, lest she stay up all night reading (he could never put it past her). "Sleep tight."

Even seven days was too long away from his Yuri. But now she had a mother and sisters he could trust to look after her.

Still, in the meantime, tomorrow they would have to catch up on their reading.

* * *

The fortnight passed far more quickly than anyone at Nakamura Manor would have liked.

Come rooster's crow, Yuri had lined up outside with everyone else to bid her father farewell. She moped near Shiina and Masami, frowning petulantly at the ground while her father snapped his riding gloves on and laughed the morning off like it was nothing.

Maybe it was nothing to him. It wasn't his first business trip and it definitely wouldn't be the last. But for Yuri, the goodbyes never got any easier.

"I've never seen so many gloomy faces," he said exuberantly, taking the baroness in his arms. "I promise, I'll be back in a week."

"Then go," Hinami mourned. "The sooner you leave, the sooner we can celebrate your return."

He kissed her goodbye, then turned to their three girls and knelt in a small acknowledging bow in front of them. "Maybe by then, you three will have gotten to know each other better. Yeah?"

He stopped at Yuri and gave her chin a gentle squeeze. Getting on his knees, he met her eyes with a cheery grin. "Yuri, I'm counting on you to teach them the ropes around here. Your stepmother isn't used to getting her hands dirty."

Sure enough, Hinami huffed slightly and looked away, rubbing the pristine skin of her immaculate hands. Yuri had barely glanced at the dirt in her own nails before her father launched a noisy farewell kiss to her cheek and strode over to mount his horse. His left arm appeared to be cramping, so Matsushita the Fifth helpfully handed him the other rein.

"Thank you, Matsushita."

"Safe journey, Nakamura-san," his old friend replied with a smile, patting the horse's neck.

The horse nickered softly and broke into a brisk trot, carrying Yuri's father away from her again. She watched him go with a sick feeling in her chest. Only a week, he'd said. She was sure that the days would fly by now that she was keeping busy with her stepmother and sisters, but… it just didn't feel right. Maybe it was because she was still getting used to them? It would be easier having him around as comfort for just a few more days.

He did promise a book. In a week, he would be back by her fireplace reading a new book to her like he always did. The thought gave her some comfort.

_Clap-clap!_

"Come along, ladies! Back to your lessons," said Hinami, picking up the skirt of her dress to lead them back into the house.

Hisako and Yui were already trailing after her when the baroness's words registered in Yuri's mind, and she quickly whirled around to stop them.

"Hey, wait! It's tradition!" she called to them. "He always waves at the gate."

Hinami stared at her, unfazed, then flashed a thin wisp of a smile and followed her daughters inside.

Yuri sucked in a breath, her heart twinging at what seemed to her an insult to one of the best parts of being a Nakamura. Then she spun on her heel and ran a little farther down the path to get a good view.

The horse's hooves clacked against the dirt driveway in a steady trot, closing in on the gate. A canopy of trees led the way overhead. Birds chattered noisily in the branches. But what was her father doing? Was he slouching? Something was wrong; he'd always been a fan of good posture…

Noises grew louder. Grunts, Coughs, a groan of pain. Maybe his breakfast wasn't agreeing with him—

He heaved another agonized groan, seized, and keeled over sideways, toppling off the horse. His body hit the ground with a heavy thump. The horse kept going.

"PAPA!" Yuri screamed, breaking into a run.

She pushed herself faster than her legs could bear, ragged breaths stabbing at her throat, heart clenching at the sight of his motionless body. She'd never seen him weak like this, never… Falling to her knees beside him, she pushed at his arm and desperately tried to roll him over on his back. Rapid footsteps slapped the dirt behind her but they weren't getting here  _quick_  enough!

"Papa! Papa!"

Hinami reached him next, falling to a heap in her billowing dress and pulling him over to face her.

"Kaishou," she whispered fearfully, quavering on a shaky breath. "Kaishou…?"

He looked up at her, his face ashen, his wheezes fading to a choked rattle. Each one sounded like slow torture; but with the energy he had, he turned to Yuri and stroked the leather of his gloves against her cheek, catching the tears that spilled from her green eyes.

"I love you." The words escaped in a soft rasp. "I love you."

"Papa…"

His last breath curdled in his throat. Even the wind in the leaves seemed to freeze. The only sound Yuri heard after that was Hinami's distraught sobs.

"No!" Hinami wept, shaking at his arms. "Kaishou, you cannot leave me here.  _You cannot leave me here!_ " She collapsed against Matsushita and muffled her cries into his chest. Masami and Shiina came to Yuri's side only to be furiously pushed off.

"Get away!" she cried, dodging Masami's outstretched hand and hugging her father tighter. Maybe if she didn't let go, he would stay right here and never be able to leave again. But if they pulled her away he would really be gone. Gone like her mother, like the baby brother or sister she thought she was getting all those years ago. Gone for good.

He promised her a book! He promised he'd be back in a week! He  _promised_ her!

"Papa, please come back!"

* * *

" _It would be ten years before another man would enter her life. A man who was still a boy in many, many ways."_

* * *

 


	2. The Prince and the Servant Girl

 

_Ten years later…_

* * *

It was the middle of the night, but that did not matter to the king as he marched steadfast down a stone hallway with his path lit only by two flickering torches. The irresponsibility and insubordination he saw in his son day in and day out had ultimately led up to this, a royal frustration causing a severe case of insomnia that he refused to deal with alone. And thus he was leading his wife the queen and two of his torch-wielding men towards his son's chambers for a good old-fashioned midnight chew-out.

"I signed a marriage contract with the King of Toba and by God, that boy will obey my command or there will be hell to pay!"

"But he does not love her, my lord!" Queen Ayame pleaded, tightening her robe as she rushed to keep up with his stride.

"It's not  _about_ love."

"Perhaps it should be!"

The king's scowl deepened at his wife's far too tender heart. She was completely missing the point, as always. "If he is to become king, he must learn to accept his responsibility."

"A sapling cannot grow in the shadow of a mighty oak, Kimito," the Queen reminded him as they rounded the corner of the corridor. "He needs sunlight!"

"He needs a good whipping," King Kimito argued tersely.

Ayame scoffed in exasperation, but followed him up the winding castle stairs anyway. Nothing could stop the king when he was on one of his tirades, and yet she knew nothing good could come of tonight. Ever since her sweet, mild-mannered boy became their only heir, Kimito had been grinding him down and chipping away at his spirit. In his adolescence the boy had grown golden thorns, and was bound to brandish them tonight if met with a rude awakening.

But Kimito never learned, and  _never_  softened his touch, so she found herself climbing the spiral steps to her son's tower in the wee hours of the night on one of her husband's angry whims. She couldn't tell if his huffing and puffing came from anger or exertion; neither of them were young enough for an uphill battle.

"Really, Kimito, can't this wait until morning?" Ayame sighed once they reached the top.

"If I can't sleep, neither shall he!" said the king with a decisive nod. As soon as the door was opened for him, he burst into the prince's bedchambers with an impassioned flourish of his robes. "Ayato, wake up!"

There was no stirring sounds, no grumbling, no sleepy rumple of the bedsheets. His words had fallen upon an empty room. And an abandoned bed.

Ayame knowingly raised her tired eyes, and sat upon the covers with a sigh. "Oh no, not again."

The king followed her gaze to the open window, where a makeshift bedsheet rope draped over the sill and down towards the ground. His idiot son had made another daring escape.

To think! A grown prince, running away from home like a child! He clearly enjoyed making his parents look like fools.

Kimito's face paled with fury in the flickering light. He beat his fist against the wall, startling Ayame, and retreated to the staircase as he growled under his breath.

"Call out the guard!" the king bellowed, storming down the stairs. "Bring him back!"

Amidst the chorus of "yes, my lord," Ayame picked up the skirts of her nightgown and hurried after him. And she worried with every step. Yes, the guard would bring their prince home in a matter of time. Then the king would berate him endlessly for his insolence, and he would snap back with defensive sass, and she would watch the two men butt heads like little goats for a few days before he was gone again. And she would lose more hours of sleep, worrying and worrying.

And so the cycle went.

* * *

Beside the still smoldering coals of a fireplace, a young woman slept peacefully in a bed of hay and old blankets. A book with a love-worn cover lay draped over her heart where it belonged, caressed in sleep by soot-kissed fingers.

A rooster sang to the rising sun, and emerald green eyes opened as the light poured in through the cracks of the door. She closed  _Utopia_ and sat up with a small groan. The morning was here already. Yuri Nakamura knew each night she stayed up late reading that she'd pay for it when dawn came, but she was her father's daughter. Stubborn as her hungry mind was, she never learned her lesson.

And yet, being her father's daughter, she endured her tiredness and began her work nonetheless. That was what was expected of her, anyway, if she was to remain at Nakamura Manor under her stepmother's roof. Meanwhile Hinami and her daughters would be tucked in the sheets of their warm beds for another good hour or so. But she digressed.

Yuri did not carry her spite with her as she tended to the farm. Only buckets of apple cores, which she unloaded in the pig pen for their breakfast. Her father's land didn't deserve her nastiness, just love, which it would never get from the Fukudas.

Hinami's love was reserved for riches they couldn't afford, or gaining the status she thought she deserved. It was Yuri's responsibility to maintain the manor while her stepmother ceaselessly groomed her eldest daughter Hisako as a lady fit for marriage. And while Yuri accepted the role and knew her family's land was safer in her hands, she struggled not to laugh whenever Hinami spoke so seriously of her dreams that Hisako would wed the prince.

Even now it made her grin as she headed into the orchard for apples.  _Hisako, a true princess?_

It sounded like a nightmare, but hey – whatever whisked them out of her life.

Willing the thoughts out of her mind, Yuri allowed herself a few minutes of peace in the soft grass while she tested the freshness of the fallen apples. The morning was still quiet and her troubles were far away in their beds. Yes, Hinami was sleeping soundly even after she'd sold an entire human person. Somehow she could do that with no qualms.

Though Yuri missed Matsushita the Fifth with all her heart, she closed her eyes, breathed through the grief, and dropped another apple in her apron. She would not let Hinami follow her out here. At this hour, her only company was the birds twittering in the trees.

But presently a yell rang out in the world, followed by a barrage of heavy hoofbeats kicking up dirt. Yuri glanced up, startled, just in time to see a surge of royal guards galloping past her on the road.

With their great speed, it was only a brief disturbance to her solitary silence. And yet she wondered for a while afterwards just who or what they were after.

Her imagination carried her through the rest of the apple-picking on autopilot, dreaming up all sorts of possibilities. A man who'd broken into the castle in the middle of the night and made off with the queen's favorite vase. The only mystical healer who might know how to cure the king's secret illness. The location of a lost underground cavern with all the weapons and supplies the king's army could ever want.

No, those were just the dreams and stories running through her head. But they sure as hell killed some time.

Once her apron had filled to the brim with fruit, Yuri tied the ends and headed back to the manor. She'd killed too much time and the Fukudas would be sitting down to breakfast very soon. Masami and Shiina shouldn't have to endure Hinami or Hisako alone. Quickening her step, she was rounding a corner with her bounty when another horse's familiar indignant whinnies and snorts stopped her right in her tracks.

"Come on, you stupid beast! Come  _on!_ "

She caught her breath as her fright transitioned to recognition and pure outrage. That was her father's favorite stallion! Who was this black-cloaked bastard clumsily trying to ride him?! The stranger kicked at his sides and the horse leaped over the hedges into the open hayfield.

This must be the criminal that the royal guards were looking for. And he thought he could make such an accomplice?!

"Oh no you don't," Yuri hissed. Whirling around in a haste, the girl sprinted back into the field to make his acquaintance. More and more apples tumbled out of her apron until she finally just let go, but she didn't care. The apples would be there when she came back for them.

After all, right now she only needed one.

Her timing was perfect. As he came galloping towards her, she wound her arm back and hurled her weapon straight at his stupid burgling forehead. The man yelped in surprise and fell backwards off the horse, his feet flying over his head before he tumbled to the ground and rolled himself into a disgraceful coat of hay.

If she weren't so furious, Yuri might've burst out laughing in triumph. But there was just enough time and a few discarded apples nearby and she'd decided one simply wasn't enough.

"Thief!" she snarled, diving for her weapons and pelting him with another when he tried to get to his feet. "This'll teach you to steal my father's horse!"

The coward adjusted his cloak as he stood, clutching it tight to disguise his face. "My own has slipped his shoe! I had no choice!"

"And our choice is what?" Yuri sneered, pelting him with more apples. "To  _let_ you?!"

"Wait!" he yelped, and truly had the audacity to hide behind the horse he'd tried to steal. "I was only borrowing—"

"Get out!" She aimed perfectly and lobbed another apple at his exposed legs. "I'll wake the house!"

He emerged from behind the horse – big mistake. As soon as his head passed the horse's, she flung a good ripe apple at it. It smacked against his skull and knocked him on his ass with another feeble yelp.

Yuri paused her onslaught and took a moment to revel in her victory. A moment that lasted for all of two seconds, and then the man pushed himself up from the ground and battered at his twisted cloak in a fit of anger. His hood had come away in the process, revealing his face.

Or, more specifically, a mess of dark green hair.

Yuri's breath hitched in fear. Her heart pounded terribly in her chest as his sharp features and disdainful golden eyes became clear to her. Oh God, she'd made a terrible mistake. She fell to her hands and knees in respect, hoping pitifully for mercy.

"Forgive me, Your Highness, I did not see you," she managed, struggling to compose herself before she hyperventilated into the grass. She dared not make eye contact again, but her curiosity begged her to sneak a few glances.

Prince Ayato looked skeptical, nursing a slight bump on his temple. "Your aim would suggest otherwise."

Yuri closed her eyes in horror. The prince. She'd just attacked the crown prince. "And for that I know I must die."

His riding boots stopped just in front of the horse, and he hesitated for a moment.

"Then, speak of this to no one, and… I shall be lenient," Prince Ayato said at last, and climbed back onto the saddle like it was nothing. Her father's horse snorted uncertainly at him, unaware of his rider's royal status.

So he really was the one that the guards were after. What was he running from? Not that it mattered, but she was willing to do whatever to avoid his ire getting back to Hinami.

"We have other horses, highness," Yuri said meekly, watching him try to wrangle her father's stubborn old steed. "Younger, if that's what you want."

His shadow fell over her, towering like a god in the glow of the early sunlight that shone through the trees.

"What I want?" the prince repeated with a scoff. "What I want is to be free of my gilded cage." Procuring a small bag, he untied it and dumped out its contents. Gold coins rained down unceremoniously in front of her. "For your silence."

And with that, he was off.

Yuri watched until her father's horse was out of sight, her mind tingling with numb disbelief at what had just transpired. Then her gaze fell to the coins, which to the touch seemed very real. As she counted each coin, her furrowed brow smoothed with a dizzy, joyous hope.

Maybe… just maybe this wasn't the last miracle that would come of today.

* * *

In the dining room of Nakamura manor, twenty-year-old Hisako was behaving like the ten years had not in fact aged her one bit. She stared in disgust at her bowl before shoving it to the side so she wouldn't have to look at the travesty a second longer.

"I said I wanted four-minute eggs, not four  _one-minute_ eggs," Hisako scowled, and threw a disdainful glare over her shoulder as she shouted, "and where in God's name is our bread?!"

Shiina swiftly appeared and whisked the eggs away. "It's just coming out of the oven, my lady," she answered, disappearing into the kitchen once more.

"Hisako, precious," Hinami said gently, "what do I always say about tone?"

Yui perked up almost immediately, raising her hand as she recited, "'A lady of breeding should never raise her voice any louder than the—" she paused, noting her mother's and sister's unimpressed frowns, and corrected her tone as appropriate, " _gentle hum of a whispering wind."_

Hisako glared at her younger sister, shaking her head in thinly veiled condescension. She'd be damned if she got a lecture about "ladies of breeding" from a lady of screaming and eating.

Seeming to share this viewpoint, Hinami fixed her younger daughter with a frown of annoyance.

"Yui,  _dear_ , do not speak unless you can improve the silence," she said coldly.

A pouting Yui returned to her eggs, which she herself had no problem with, while Hisako was quick to get back on the defensive.

"I was not shrill, I was resonant," Hisako corrected. Rolling her eyes, she muttered, "A courtier knows the difference."

"I don't believe your style of resonance would be permitted in the royal court," Hinami warned.

A scoff from Hisako. "But I'm not going to the royal court in the first place," she reminded her mother. "No one is. Except some Toban pig they have the nerve to call a princess."

"Darling, nothing is final until you're dead," said Hinami, tapping at her egg with a knife. "And even then I'm sure God negotiates."

Both daughters awkwardly averted their eyes to their plates. For some reason that didn't sound right.

The clicking and clinking of dishes and silverware took hold of the room, until a dissatisfied Hinami broke the silence a few moments later.

"Why is there no salt on this table?" the baroness demanded. Turning towards the kitchen, she hollered out, " _YURI!_ "

"Coming!" Yuri sang in reply, hurrying into the kitchen to empty the contents of her apron into a basket. A massive grin lit up her face; not even her stepmother's impatience mattered to her right now.

Masami looked up from plating the bread, catching Yuri's contagious smile with a knowing gleam in her eyes. "Oh, she's in one of her moods!"

Though she kept a watchful gaze over the boiling eggs, Shiina managed a soft chuckle over her shoulder. "Did the sun rise in the east?"

"It sure did," Yuri chirped, pulling out the coin purse and letting her good fortune clatter majestically onto the table, "and it's going to be a beautiful day!"

Masami nearly fainted on the spot, clutching the edge of the table as her just-as-wide-eyed mother appeared beside her.

"Look at all that gold!" she wheezed. "Yuri, where on earth did you get this?!"

"From an angel of mercy." Returning with the salt shaker, Yuri flashed her old friend a cheeky grin, then let it fade in favor of a gentle smile when she turned to Shiina. "And I know just what to do with them."

Shiina studied Yuri's face, her own composure betraying her with a trembling lip.

"Matsushita?" she said softly.

Yuri nodded, fierce in her resolve to make this happen. Matsushita the Fifth might not be Masami's father, but he'd been dear to the Iwasawas ever since she was a very young girl. Witnessing his and Shiina's marriage when she was eleven was the happiest memory she'd had in this house since her father died. For Hinami to part them the way she did… it was disgusting.

"If the baroness can sell your husband to pay her taxes, then these can certainly bring him home!" Yuri told her, emphatic. "The court will have to let him go!"

"But the king's already sold him," Shiina said dismally, the glimmer of hope already leaving her face. "He's bound for the Americas."

"This is our home," Yuri insisted, gathering up the bread platter, "and I will not see it fall apart."

"We are  _waiting!"_  Hinami singsonged from the dining room.

Getting into gear, she made a move for the door, but Masami hurriedly intercepted her in time while Shiina scooped the money into its purse.

"Be careful, Yuri," Masami said, readying Yuri's apron as Shiina handed off the purse as well as the eggs. "Or else that gold's as good as hers!" She and Shiina gave Yuri an encouraging swat into the hallway.

Yuri expertly balanced the bread, salt, and eggs as she joined the Fukudas in the dining room.

"Morning Madame, Hisako-san, Yui-san," she greeted them, minding her manners as she set the table. Yui had once said she could just call her "Yui," but Yuri wisely avoided that in front of the baroness. All the same, she acknowledged Yui's bright smile and happy hello with a nod. "I trust you slept well."

Yui looked nervously at her mother at first, then pursed her lips and gave a silent but bubbly nod.

"What kept you?" Hinami asked, cold and prim as ever.

"I… fell off the ladder in the orchard, but I'm better now," Yuri answered, with little to no hesitation. Good thing she'd learned to think on her feet over the years. It was adaptation borne of necessity: give a good story or get a good whipping.

"Someone's been reading in the fireplace again." Hisako looked her up and down, smirking into her cup. "Look at you, ash and soot everywhere."

Hinami carefully measured a teaspoon of salt onto her eggs. "Some people read because they cannot think for themselves."

Similarly unimpressed, her elder daughter raised an eyebrow at Yuri. "Why don't you sleep with the pigs, Cinder-soot, if you insist on smelling like one?"

"Ooh! That was harsh, Hisako," said her mother, though her tone spelled approval.

Yuri somehow managed to mute a glare. Only breakfast, and Hinami and Hisako were already being their nasty selves. It was too early for this. Unwilling to spoil her good mood and be put through this any longer than she had to, she dropped the salt lid and started to make a break for it.

Too late – Hinami had already snagged her sleeve.

"Yuri? Come here, child," she said, holding fast to her wrist until Yuri obediently stopped. Her stepmother regarded her with curiosity and a hint of repulsion. "Your appearance does reflect a certain… crudeness, you know. What can I do to make you try?"

Was that genuine care in her tone? Somehow Yuri felt she should know better, and yet hope kindled in her heart as she let herself fall for it.

"I do try, Stepmother," she said honestly. "I do wish to please you. Sometimes I sit on my own and try to think of what else I could do, how I should act—"

Rolling her eyes, Hinami became bored and turned away. "Oh, calm down, Yuri. Relax."

Yuri nodded and began to walk out of the room. Right, should have seen that coming a mile away. And yet... she slowed at the door, considering her options. If the baroness was truly taking recommendations for incentives, then – well, there was one thing. And she would need to know in advance: how would she react if Yuri's ideas were to pan out?

She took a deep breath and approached Hinami's chair once more, testing the waters. "Maybe if we brought back Matsushita the Fifth, I would not offend you so—"

"It is your manner that offends, Yuri," the baroness snapped, flicking stone cold eyes to her. "Throughout these hard times, I've cared for you, clothed you, and kept a roof over your head. All that I ask in return is that you help me here without complaint. Is that such an extraordinary request?"

Yuri shook her head, backing down. "No, my lady," she said, and pointedly ignored the pleasure on Hisako's face.

"Very well," Hinami said, giving a nod of dismissal. "Then we'll have no more talk of servants coming back. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, my lady." She bowed slightly, then escaped into the hallway to help the Iwasawas with the rest of their chores. Her stepmother's voice, further expressing her offended astonishment, followed her the entire way.

So much for an appeal to her stepmother's generosity. If she was going to save Matsushita the Fifth, she'd have to do it herself.


	3. Matters of Life and Death

Though it had taken some time and patience (as well as enduring a few apples to the head), Prince Ayato had somehow managed to get this stubborn old steed to not only behave for him but understand they were on the run. The creature had as much strength as it had spirit, much like the girl from earlier – who, he had to admit, had made quite an impression in her fierce defense of her master's property. All that bombardment for one horse? He'd never felt even half the emotional attachment to any of his own possessions.

Now the treasured stallion had carried him deep into Haruna Forest, which would bring him great relief if not for the commotion going on in the middle of his path.

"Oh no, there's nothing there!" an old man's voice cried out in distress, bringing Ayato's horse to a halt with an uncertain snort. "There's nothing! I beg you, please leave us alone – it's just pots and pans!"

The men raiding the caravan were instantly recognizable. Seaweed-green uniforms, tool belts, skin and clothes covered in dust and dirt. These were Guildsmen, known for their weapon-making, raids, and craftiness. Smart horse – it would be too dangerous to try and pass through or around them. But there was simply no time to go back the other way.

His steed shifted from leg to leg, snuffling and snorting some more. Ayato looked on with the same level of unease. The people of the caravan were ambling about like they didn't know what to do with themselves. Only a salt-and-pepper-haired man was making the most noise, chasing after one guildsman and then the next as he tried to protect his wares.

And then – this was very interesting – there was a silver-haired young lady frozen in one spot looking extremely puzzled by everything, and yet calmly smacking any hands away with what looked to be a giant metal lotus flower.

And that seemed to be working out well for her, as most of the guildsmen thought she was completely mad and quickly moved on to other things. Until one determined soul came along and disarmed her, knocking the peculiar contraption out of her hands. The girl grew even more startled as it went flying and hit the dirt with a clatter. But then her attention returned to the guildsman and his looting hands. Gasping, she attempted to pry him away herself.

The gasp alerted the attention of the older man (presumably her father), who came running as soon as he saw the guildsman emerge with a large canister. "No, no, no, not that! Anything but that!"

She wrestled her assailant for it with surprising strength, but the latter played as dirty as he worked. He struck the girl to the ground and barreled past her father with the treasure tucked beneath his arm. "Out of the way, old man!"

Ayato's conscience snapped at his insides. After seeing something like that, could he really just stand here and watch?

A good prince would intervene, come charging in and bring these guildsmen to justice. That was likely what his father would expect from him. Maybe it was even what his brother would have done.

But he wasn't his brother. And he never asked to be a prince. Besides, a gallant act of heroism was exactly the kind of attention he didn't need right now.

Still, what was he supposed to do…?

A piercing whistle interrupted his thoughts. All the guildsmen broke into a frenzy, shouting and running away with their loot.

"Get on the horses!"

"It's the royal guard! Run!"

Cold dread sinking into his veins, Ayato picked up on the sound of approaching hoofbeats and slowly turned to look over his shoulder. Sure enough, he could see his father's men just beyond the trees and closing in fast. He'd run out of time.

"God, I can't believe this," he groaned to himself. He'd have to take his chances past the caravan while the guildsmen were dispersing. Rolling his eyes, he gave his horse a prodding kick. "C'mon—"

The horse took off down the path, and with its obedience and reasonable speed he would've gotten away with it too… if it weren't for his damn conscience again.

His venture brought him right to the carriage where the old man was tending to his daughter. After helping her raise a cloth to her cheek, the man whirled around with wild eyes, looking this way and that until he caught sight of Ayato riding toward him.

"The painting," he wheezed, moving into the horse's path to slow him down. "Please sir, for the love of God, the painting! That man there, he's getting away!"

Ayato followed the old man's finger up the hill, where a lone guildsman was making his escape with the canister in his arms. Did this man seriously expect him to make a daring rescue for a  _painting_?

He didn't have time for any of this. He would barely make an escape now without his pursuers getting close enough to nip at his heels! Let alone fetch the damn thing and come back to the scene of the crime!

"The guard will assist you," Ayato said, with more desperation than sternness as he tried to lead his horse away. "I cannot—"

" _Please_ , sir."

A soft voice. Unnervingly angelic, like warmth and snow together. When he looked back to the carriage with more dread, the silver-haired girl had gotten to her feet and was staring at him as she brought her red-splotched cloth away from her busted lip. There was still a trickle of blood at the corner of her mouth and it didn't seem to faze her.

"It is… my life," she said quietly.

Ayato and his borrowed steed faltered at once. Well that was just unfair. What could he do now, deny an old man  _and_ his injured daughter? But the look in her eyes, the emotion that glazed the gold and quavered in her voice… he almost believed her.

The royal guard's horses were thundering ever closer. He could see them through the thicket; surely by this point they'd spotted him as well. The point of no return.

Yelling in frustration, he startled his steed into motion and galloped up the hill in pursuit of the damned thieving guildsman.

After all, he had no choice now. But that was just the story of his life, wasn't it?

* * *

Meanwhile, in an alley near the marketplace, the Baroness Hinami Fukuda was examining what a jewelry vendor claimed to be his most magnificent brooch. Golden and pearl-studded, the design of its metalwork seemed to perfectly match the embroidering of Hisako's gown when her mother held it up to her chest. The women shared a considering look, but then Hinami turned back to the vendor and raised an eyebrow in discontent.

"No," she said simply. "Too small. Needs to draw some attention."

The vendor chuckled nervously. "I'm afraid, Baroness, anything larger might make her fall over," he advised, gesturing to Hisako's slender build.

"I guess you're right," Hinami tsked, and she and Hisako began to turn away from the booth. A bored Yui, who'd been impatiently waiting by the street corner and munching on a bite-sized pastry, perked up as her hopes soared. "We'll just have to look elsewhere."

"I – I have just the thing!" cried the vendor, waving the women back over to him. Yui muffled a whine and continued to flutter most unladylike in quiet anger.

Far above their heads, Yuzuru Otonashi leaned over the window sill of his art studio watching all of this go down. He'd been hired as lookout while Yuri borrowed his changing room – for the most ridiculous scheme he'd ever heard in his life. And being friends with Yuri Nakamura, this was truly saying something. He still couldn't wrap his mind around it. Even if he'd agreed to supply the dress.

"So, just checking, have you completely lost your mind?" Otonashi asked, turning to her with confused exasperation stitched into his brow. He crossed the room to her, stopping only to sit down on the piano bench and clutch fistfuls of his own orange hair. "Do you know what the punishment is for servants who dress above their station?  _Five days_ in the stocks."

"You'd do the same for me, admit it," Yuri said, leaning over to jab a fingernail in his chest. When he looked down, she impishly flicked his nose and darted away.

Otonashi scoffed as he watched her snatch up her shoes and disappear behind the curtain.

"Me? Pretend to be a courtier?" he echoed, the sheer ridiculousness of it bringing him to his feet again. "Prancing around like some nobleman… I've never even been to court. And neither have you!"

"Then I won't be recognized!" Yuri said, emerging slightly from behind the screen to give him an obvious look. Sometimes her brain of a best friend overlooked the simplest little things. She motioned to the mannequin. "Now, hand me that gown so I can get this over with."

Otonashi sighed, but compliantly fetched the elegant summer-white gown from its model. The noblewoman who owned this gown only left it behind so he could finish the portrait she'd commissioned. If he'd had the gall to pull off something like this, hell, he would've gone to a university and studied to be a doctor. And yet here they were, in his meager art studio surrounded by rags, fruits, and paintings.

Good paintings, though. He'd made it work. With many thanks to Yuri's support, he'd admit as much.

"They'll never buy it," Otonashi said with a laugh, bundling up the dress and tossing it over the curtain. "You're way too sweet."

"Yeah, well, they'll never buy a servant with twenty golden pieces either," Yuri muttered. She caught the dress in her arms and smoothed it out before stepping into the skirt. "I'm Matsushita's only hope."

"And the baroness? What'd you tell her?"

"I'm picking wildflowers." Otonashi snorted so hard he almost blew paint dust out of his mortar. "Otonashi, can you still see her?"

"They're buying a brooch," he said, not even bothering to look up. He knew the Fukudas far too well.

Yuri broke into a scoff of laughter; truly, neither of them was surprised at this point.

"Unbelievable. She ignores the manor, blames us for  _her_ debts, and still pretends to have money to burn." She slipped her arms into the sleeves, zipped up the back, and smoothed down the front. "Now, don't you dare laugh. I'm coming out."

When she stepped out from behind the curtain, Otonashi was busying himself with his mortar and pestle. He heard her footsteps and glanced over his shoulder, then did a double-take and turned around more fully as a huge smile broke out across his face.

Yuri wasn't sure she trusted it. Was it genuine or a dumb boyish grin?

"The shoes aren't too big?" she guessed, already feeling kind of ridiculous as she played with the skirts.

"Nobody will be looking at your feet," Otonashi said nicely.

Her cheeks warmed at his words. It'd been a long time since she'd worn anything nicer than rags and hand-me-downs. "Yards of fabric, and I still feel naked," she mumbled, running her hands over her silk sleeves.

Sighing, Otonashi set down the mortar and approached her as one would a skittish doe.

"Yuri. If you're going to be a noblewoman, you've got to play the part," he reminded her, taking her hand in his and squeezing it gently. She nodded, taking a deep breath, and he used his free hand to lift her chin. "You look down to no one."

Damn him. The wisdom in his eyes was too much for her. She blinked furiously and managed a watery grin. "I'm just a servant in a nice dress."

Otonashi grinned back and led her away by the wrist. "C'mon, let's go do something with that hair."

* * *

Ayato returned to the caravan drenched, dirtied, and dismal. Not to mention chaperoned by two men of the royal guard.

They'd been waiting for him when he emerged from the waters. So essentially after the morning he'd had, he'd fought with a guildsman, tumbled off a cliff for the second time in his life, crashed into the river below, and climbed out just for the day-long pursuit between cage and bird to end then and there.

And all this just for a stupid painting. It had better be worth millions.

Of course the rest of the royal guard was waiting for him when the three of them came back. One particular idiot – his most and least favorite of them all – was sitting on the old man's carriage, chatting amiably with the silver-haired girl as he adjusted some goods in the wagon area. Both of them looked up when her father gave a cry of joy.

"Oh, thank you!" the old man gasped, rushing to Ayato's steed with open arms. Resigned, the exhausted prince handed the canister off to him.

"Ayato, you promised," Hinata said sternly, pushing himself off the wagon.

"I know." He dismounted his horse with a grunt of pain. "I lied." Rubbing at his side, he hobbled over to join them all at the carriage. Hinata bumped his shoulder and made a face at him as he passed, which was obnoxious and unnecessary so Ayato returned it in full force. "I  _thought_  I'd see the world before I gave up my life to God and country."

"Why did you stop?" asked the silver-haired girl, glancing at him as she pulled a rolled up canvas from the canister her father had uncapped.

Ayato was in too much pain to spare another glare. Every one of his muscles ached thanks to her.

"I suppose it's because I lack conviction," he muttered, groaning as he moved his neck the wrong way. "You seem to have it in spades." He shuffled closer out of undying curiosity as her fingers gingerly unraveled the corners of her treasure. "Besides, you claimed it was a matter of life and death."

Her father chuckled beside her. "A woman always is, Sire."

The canvas unfurled to reveal a beautiful lady at a piano, with similar silver tresses but far longer. Her hair billowed out like angel wings behind her back, and her face – older than this girl, slightly fuller – was moonlike and expressive. She beamed up from the canvas, hands pressed lovingly against her heart.

Pure mirth had been painstakingly painted in her eyes, so much of it that Ayato had to look away. "She laughs at me, miss, as if she knows something I do not."

The girl hummed appreciatively. "My mother had many secrets. I merely painted one of them."

Catching his eye, Hinata cleared his throat while he mounted his horse. "Miss Tachibana has been invited to the palace as the artist-in-residence."

Ayato's mouth fell open at the name; he turned to the dainty snow-haired girl with the bruised lip and cheek and perpetual naïve expression. It had been a long day, but still, how could he have been so blind?

"Kanade Tachibana?" he managed dumbly.

She slipped the painting back into its gilded canister with a humble smile and bow. "It's an honor to meet you, Your Highness. I hope I haven't caused you too much trouble already."

An honor! The honor very much was his. He'd heard stories of the young girl who'd been raised by pianists to master the keys herself, only to start painting from childhood as she claimed to hear colors in music. Her mother and father had willingly fostered her creativity to the point where she'd even blossomed into dabbling with invention. This girl had stepped out of her parents' shadows and become everything her heart had desired, all by the age of seventeen!

"Here I am on my way to Shibuya and I find my salvation on the highway!" Ayato said excitedly, seizing her by the shoulders. "Tachibana, you are the very essence of forward thinking and my father is the king of backward. Perhaps you can talk him into this century!"

Kanade looked utterly bewildered again, searching over his shoulder for help. "Captain Hinata, please translate."

When Ayato loosened his grip and turned knowingly with a watchful eye, Hinata gave a meager shrug. "Uh, Prince Ayato suffers from an… arranged marriage, my lady," he said simply. Satisfied, the prince turned away, and Hinata muttered under his breath, "Among other things."

Ayato glared at him; Hinata coughed and looked innocently onward. For the captain of the royal guard, the dolt could get too big for his britches.

* * *

With his royal pursuit having come to an embarrassing end, Ayato found it within his interest to prolong the inevitable by making one important stop. The horse that had carried him thus far was old and clearly beloved. A lingering bump on his temple reminded him to take it back where it belonged.

And so his journey brought him back to the farm, and up to a manor his royal guard informed him belonged to one Baroness Hinami Fukuda. The lady of the house herself appeared at the door just as he was riding up, all smiles and finery like she had seen him coming.

"Your Highness! What a lovely surprise," the baroness welcomed him with a pronounced curtsy. She peered up at him with candied eyes, which batted incessantly. "To what do we owe this great honor?"

"I'm returning your horse, Baroness," said Ayato, and gestured for the guards to bring it forward.

"Oh." She stood, decidedly unaffected by the news. "Was it missing?"

"Yes, I took the liberty of borrowing it this morning," he explained, rather puzzled by her anticlimactic reaction. Based on the reception he got this morning, he'd assumed the horse was more cherished than that. "I'm afraid I may have scared the wits out of one of your servants, a young lady with, uh…" he chuckled nervously, touching his temple at the memory, "quite a good arm, actually."

"She is mute, my lord," the baroness said instantly.

"Really? She spoke quite forcefully."

The baroness's lips twitched with a frown, but she gracefully maintained her composure.

"Well, it comes and goes," she replied, waving the issue away. "But as always, Your Highness is welcome to anything he wishes. Anything at all."

Ayato lowered his gaze to his horse, trading his awkwardness for the more favorable mask of humility. He could sense Hinata smirking next to him; the captain got a kick out of older highborn ladies who tried to lay on the charm.

Luckily, the tension shattered at the sound of squabbling from inside the house – rapid steps accompanied by frenzied shrieks and squawks, and then Hinami's elder daughter came stumbling out the door with a grunted gasp. The younger followed suit in a flurry of pink, screaming, "Wait for me!"

"Oh, ladies," Hinami said pleasantly, smiling as they came up beside her and quickly composed themselves. "Here you are."

They curtsied – the brunette coy like her mother, the pink one breathless and shy. "Your Highness."

Hinata lingered over the girls for a second, then looked to Ayato and raised his eyebrows meaningfully. The latter deliberately ignored him – yes, yes, another highborn woman throwing her daughters at him, what made this time so special?

Granted, they were two of the prettier ones…

"Your Highness, may I present my eldest Hisako, in three hiragana characters, ひさ子, 'the long-lived child,' of the House of Fukuda?" Hinami hesitated, glancing idly in her younger daughter's direction. "And Yui."

Hisako met his eyes without shame, cool and collected. On her left, Yui ruffled a bit and fixed a light blue feather into her hair.

"You may indeed," Ayato replied. This was part of his royal duties, he supposed. It would most certainly get back to his parents if he was anything less than charming. "Ladies, forgive me, but you seem to have blossomed overnight."

While her daughter fixed him with another aloof but bewitching stare, Hinami approached his horse and sweetly stroked the creature's mane. "We are so looking forward to celebrating the engagement to your own Toban rose."

Her true question seeped through the honeyed words like bitter slime, an unhelpful reminder of his current predicament. It was quite plain to him that she was no happier than he when it came to the arrangement; she saw the unfairness in it as well, and would have him marry one of her daughters instead.

Which honestly sounded better than where he was now. At least that betrothal would come from courtship, not his parents signing him away like  _property_.

"Yes, well, there have been…  _several_ new developments with regards to Toba," Ayato replied, while Hisako and Yui stepped forward enticingly.

Yui's intentions seemed pure enough (the girl simply looked a bit antsy and star-struck), but it was now extremely difficult to miss the tightness of Hisako's dress, and the eye-catcher of a brooch in the middle of her chest. Both no doubt meant to draw attention to her covered but noticeably large assets. Frankly he was surprised she was able to maintain such perfect posture.

He blinked, not wanting to seem ungentlemanly, and brought his focus to the jewelry piece.

"I must say, Hisako, that brooch is… stunning."

Hisako chuckled softly, grazing the gold with a finger. "This old thing?" she asked, her voice feminine yet husky, and raised half-lidded silver eyes to him with a gentle smirk. "You are too kind."

With a girlishly huffy pout, Yui took the feather out of her hair and stuffed it in her bodice, then looked at the prince expectantly. Hinata snickered into his fist and looked away. Apparently for all his professionalism the captain was utterly incapable of holding back a grin.

"These… developments, I trust, are for the best?" Hinami asked, still stroking his horse's neck.

Ayato sighed, weary at the thought. That would be up to his father for the time being, and there was no more forestalling the man's wrath after this.

"Let us hope so," he said, and nodded politely to Hisako and Yui. "Good day, ladies."

Hisako curtsied again without taking her eyes off of him as he took his leave, while Yui spiritedly waved goodbye. It baffled him on his way out, and even Hinata did a double-take; those sisters were as different as night and day.

In some stroke of good fortune, Hinata was much more eager to cackle about those girls for half the ride to the castle than resume badgering him about running away again. But Ayato personally did not care as much as Hinata did about where Yui put the feather, and was tempted to shut him up by telling him where  _he_ could stick it. Instead of pressing his luck, however, he semi-silently endured Hinata's cheerful chatter and lost himself in his thoughts.

The castle loomed too close for comfort. His royal guard would soon lead him back home, where his mother and father would be waiting most impatiently. What kind of fate would be in store for him upon his return?

After the day he'd had, he was ready to face anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay quick disclaimer, if the part about Hisako's name meaning is incorrect feel free to let me know! Because after much research, I'm stumped. The only definition I could find for Hisako was 久子 = "long-lived child," but the opening credits say her name is spelled "ひさ子" . Initially after studying the meaning of those characters I was going to tentatively put "the blazing child" but then I decided I'd rather play it safe with the popular "long-lived" meaning. If I've got it wrong, do correct me!


	4. Countess Sakurai

 

Yuri raced up the path to the great palace, her skirts grasped tightly in her fists as she maneuvered past horses, guards, and fanfare. She would rather risk a glimpse at her clumsy shoes than trip over the hems of the dress she had no right to dirty. There was no time for accidents or certain delicacies. Matsushita the Fifth's life was on the line, and she would not waste a second.

"Make way for the lady!" a royal guard cried, while another pushed a man aside. "Make way!"

At first the gesture made her startle, an instinct bidding her to hesitate and look around for a noblewoman. But she caught herself when she realized the title was meant for her. Today she was the lady, and a man had been shoved out of the way for her sake. She swallowed her indignation and pressed on.

_No time, no time._ She had to play the part.

Slowing her pace, she passed through the gate and only paused once the guards were behind her. The palace lay just ahead, adorned with flags of green and gold. Elegantly dressed lords and ladies everywhere she looked.

Yuri studied them for a moment. Did she fit in here well enough? Otonashi and his younger sister Hatsune had assured her that their work was flawless. Her carmine-colored hair had been bound into a bun-like braid and held together with a pearl-studded hairnet. Ever the artist, Otonashi painted her lips while Hatsune worked on the rouge and other powders. They'd all been satisfied with the results at the time, but now she was here, and…

Well, nobody was giving her any suspicious glares. That was good enough. But she had a feeling she needed to get in and out of here as fast as she could.

She analyzed the courtiers' movements, then replicated them in swift but careful strides. She was crossing the drawbridge and just about to enter the castle when a familiar voice cried out from below.

"I have money! I have money to pay my debts – please listen to me!"

Jerking to a halt, she spun around and moved to the side of the drawbridge. The chains pinched her palms as she gripped them tightly and glared down at the scene. Matsushita the Fifth, one of the purest and greatest men she'd ever known, was being loaded into a metal wagon like he wasn't even human.

If she didn't do something now, he would be carted off in this portable prison and be lost to his family forever.

To hell with that! Not if she had anything to say about it…

"Father, give me strength," she breathed, holding onto the chains for support. Then she gritted her teeth and broke into a run.

When she made it down the ramp in a flutter of summer-white skirts, the wagon was just rumbling by. She silently praised the timing and hurried to intercept the cargo master's horse.

"I wish to address the issue of this gentleman!" Yuri shouted, motioning to Matsushita while she grabbed hold of the horse's saddle. He stared wide-eyed out at her and clutched the bars, skin pale like he'd seen a ghost. "He is my servant and I'm here to pay the debt against him."

"You're too late, he's bought and paid for," slurred the cargo master.

Yuri waved her coin purse at him, undeterred. "I can pay you twenty gold pieces."

"Madam, you can have me for twenty gold pieces," the man said in exasperation, and hollered over her shoulder, "now drive on!"

Oh no, that was not the end of it. She wasn't risking her life to be dismissed by this pervert's thoughtless jokes. Yuri seized the reins in a fury, raising her voice even higher. "I demand you release him at once! Or I'll take this matter to the king!"

The cargo master leaned forward with a sneer, "The king's the one who sold him! He's now the property of Cartier."

"He's not property at all, you ill-mannered tub of guts!" Yuri snarled, clenching her fists.

She was about ready to deck him in the face, and the only thing keeping her back from letting her fist fly was the crowd that had begun to gather around them. It was in her best interest to keep her cover from being blown. But was that enough?

"Do you honestly think it's right to chain people like chattel?" she snapped, arms akimbo as she met him head-on. "I  _demand_ you release him at once!"

"Get out of my way!" the man screamed in her face.

"You dare raise your voice to a lady, sir?"

Yuri froze at the sound of an indignant princely voice behind her. She knew it personally,  _too_  personally thanks to this morning, and things might just be about to go from bad to worse if she didn't keep her head down. Biting the inside of her lip, she turned slowly and gave a delicate curtsying bow while the cargo master fumbled for a response.

"Your Highness," the man stammered a greeting. "F-forgive me, sire. I meant no disrespect..."

She sensed him looking at her, and could not keep her curiosity at bay for long. This was her first meeting with the prince without a cloak covering his face or her collapsed at his feet in shame. Remembering what Otonashi told her earlier, she bravely lifted her chin and met his golden gaze.

Something sparked behind his eyes, heating the blood in her veins with a pleasant sizzle. She was mildly terrified, yes, going by the chill that had ghosted her spine. But she had to admit, the danger of standing before him passing off as a courtier was thrilling.

Not that she'd be stupid enough to prolong it, of course. She was getting out of here the first chance she got.

"It's just, uh, I'm following orders here," the cargo master was still babbling his defense. He gestured to the metal cage behind him. "It's my job to take these criminals and thieves to the coast!"

Snapping out of the prince's trance, Yuri turned to hurl the man a nasty look. "A servant is not a thief, Your Highness," she said crossly, "and the ones who are cannot help themselves."

Prince Ayato looked skeptical, but vaguely intrigued at her words.

"Really?" he said, and paused to share a glance with the blue-haired guard next to him, before gesturing grandly. "Then by all means… enlighten us."

Yuri raised her eyebrows at him; was he truly offering her a platform to wax political?

He could very well be only humoring her, but the chance was hers to take. For Matsushita's sake, for her father's sake, she couldn't let this opportunity slip through her fingers. Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward confidently and let the words pour out like molten silver.

"If you suffer your people to be ill-educated, and their manners corrupted from infancy," she recited, passion coating her lips as she gestured back to the cart, "and then punish them for those crimes to which their first education disposed them…"

She looked him firmly in the eyes, searching for sense, before concluding:

"…what else is to be concluded, sire, but that you first make thieves and then punish them?"

A sea of murmurs picked up in the crowd that had gathered. They were echoed, unbeknownst to the courtiers, by the nervous fluttering in Yuri's chest. Had they actually understood?

In this elegant dress she could not only get away with speaking like this, but be listened to. Which really spoke to this world's justice system.

Amongst the murmurs, Prince Ayato rubbed his chin and silently considered all that she had said.

"Well, there you have it," he said at last, nodding to the cargo master. "Release him."

"But sire—"

Prince Ayato's eyes widened in outrage. " _I SAID…_ release him."

The man meekly dismounted from the wagon. "Yes, sire," he mumbled, moving to unlock the door.

Beaming so hard her cheeks hurt, Yuri picked up the skirts of her dress and hastened around the horse to greet her old friend. The moment he was unshackled, she shoved her coin purse into the cargo master's hand and batted the man away from him. Then she wrapped her arms around Matsushita's tall form, and remembered a time when she was never able to. He had lost so much weight since Hinami's reign of the household began. It made her want to cry even now just thinking about it.

"I thought I was looking at your mother," Matsushita said warmly, placing his shaking hands on her shoulders.

"Meet me at the bridge," she hissed for only his ears. Then, looking around, she declared importantly, "Prepare the horses! We will leave at once."

Matsushita nodded, quietly amused, and they parted ways for the time being. At the moment, there was one last thing she had to do before they left. She rounded the wagon to meet with her savior. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a silver-haired young lady who might or might not be peering at her feet, so she covered them with her skirts to be safe. Stopping in front of the prince, she offered him a sincere smile and one last curtsy.

"I thank you, Your Highness," she said, nodding to him as she left.

This had gone far better than she expected, and she owed him a great deal of thanks. She just needed to get the hell out of here before her luck ran out.

Too late, so it seemed. She heard the crunch of gravel under heavy footsteps and knew it was him even before his voice rang out.

"Have we met?" he asked, a curious edge to his tone as he caught up with her.

Yuri shot a nervous look over her shoulder, then quickly hid her face from him as she picked up the pace. "I don't believe so, Your Highness."

To her dismay, he came up alongside her and met her stride for stride. "I could've sworn I knew every courtier in the province."

There was an awkward silence as she struggled to think of an excuse. "Well, I am visiting a cousin."

"Who?"

"My cousin," she repeated, staring straight ahead.

"Yes, you said that," the prince said, an air of slow condescension in his voice. "Which one?"

Oh God. She wasn't going to be able to shake him off, was she? "The only one I have, sire," she said desperately, giving him an odd look.

He returned the look, cocking his head at her as he folded his arms behind his back in a relentless but leisurely stroll. "Are you coy on purpose, or do you honestly refuse to tell me your name?"

"No," Yuri insisted, pausing in horror as it occurred to her she might be inadvertently playing hard to get. "And yes."

She started walking even faster, the gates within her sight. Surely she hadn't bludgeoned him too hard with apples this morning that he'd lost the ability to take a hint.

"Well then, please—" His Royal  _Persistence_  headed her off and started walking backwards in front of her, "—tell me your cousin's name so that I can call upon her to know who you are."

Groaning inwardly, Yuri stepped sideways and pressed onwards. If he kept studying her like this…

"Anyone who can quote Thomas More is well worth the effort."

Yuri slowed to a halt, closing her eyes as his words snagged her. Damn it _._ She was so close. Turning back to him, the corners of her mouth curved relentlessly upward in a surprised grin.

"Ah," she said, more than a little impressed. "The prince has read  _Utopia_?"

"I find it sentimental and dull," he confessed with a sigh, obliterating her smile almost instantaneously. "Honestly, the plight of the everyday rustic bores me."

_Right..._  She narrowed her eyes, watching him circle around her. "I gather you don't talk to many peasants."

He broke into a scoffing laugh, smiling like she'd told a joke. "Certainly not, no! Naturally."

_Naturally…?!_

Hiding a quiet sigh, Yuri mentally gathered up her hopes and started on her way again. She should have known… ugh, what a waste. He could afford all the books and education in the world; of course the words of Thomas More hadn't touched his heart.

"Excuse me,  _sire,_ but there is nothing 'natural' about it," Yuri said coldly, fixing him with an icy glare as she walked off. As disgusted as she was with him, she kept talking, as she had a feeling he would follow. "A country's character is defined by its 'everyday rustics,' as you call them. They are the legs you stand on, and that position demands  _respect,_ not—"

Prince Ayato moved ahead and stopped in front of her again, causing her to grit her teeth in frustration. Courtier or not, it was almost certainly a crime to shove royalty out of the way.

"Am I to understand that you find me arrogant?" he asked, squinting.

Yuri frowned back at him. Not to mince words, but that was exactly what she was saying. "Well, you gave one man back his life, but did you even glance at the others?"

His jaw tightened. Finally, she had left him speechless.

Satisfied that she'd given him something to stop and mull around that big princely head of his, she ducked around him and made a move for the gate. But the motion must've snapped him out of his daze, because he turned quickly and called out to her.

"Please, I beg of you." He dodged in front of her once more, golden eyes earnest and pleading with her. "A name. Any name."

She cursed inwardly, taking pity on him. She'd accidentally given him a mystery novel and wouldn't tell him the end. And after he'd been rather merciful to her today, twice in fact, she supposed she owed him something. But was that really all it would take? A name?

_Any name._

Hesitating as one came to her, she took a deep breath and considered her options. It wasn't like she was going to see him again.

"I'm afraid the only name I can leave you with," Yuri said, choosing her words carefully, "is Countess Ehana Sakurai."

The prince looked satisfied with her answer, so she bid him a relieved smile goodbye and headed around him to the gate. Only allowing herself to wince once her back was turned to him.

_God, this web of lies…_   _why that name?_

"There now," Prince Ayato said teasingly, and flashed her a smug smile when she turned to look back at him. "That wasn't so hard."

Yuri returned it with a sheepish grin. Assaulting the prince with apples this morning and lying to his face a few hours later. She was going to die after all, wasn't she? So stupid.

The stupidest thing was, a part of her actually wanted to stay a little longer. Badger him about  _Utopia_ for a few minutes maybe, see what else he had to say for himself. He was the only other person she knew who'd read it. Otonashi had offered to, but she was vehemently protective of her copy.

There may be many interesting things she didn't know about this prince. And yet, there were also many things he ought not to know about her. And she really should be going… shouldn't she?

"Ayato!" came a merry woman's voice, and Queen Ayame emerged from the gardens with open arms. "You're back!"

"Hello, Mother."

_Oh, crap._ Yuri winced, keeping a polite smile on her face. Queen Ayame was a lovely woman, to be sure, but she was as much a mother as she was a royal. She would probably have even more questions for her than her son.

Now was her chance. While Prince Ayato had his back turned to greet the queen, Yuri darted across the gravel and out through the gates.

"The king would like a word with you," Queen Ayame was saying. "Several, in fact."

"He usually does…"

She didn't stop running until their conversation had faded behind her. Then she rounded a corner and pressed her back against a stone wall to catch her breath for a few moments, holding a hand to her heart.

Whew. That was too close.

But presently, an annoying grin pinched at her cheeks. Today was way too surreal. She'd had to escape the attentions of none other than the prince himself! Oh man, if only she could see the look on Hisako's face—

Ugh, never mind that! Yuri quickly shook her head of such useless thoughts. She smoothed out her dress and squared her shoulders. There were more important things. And now that the hard part was over with, it was time to find Matsushita.

Time to bring him home.

* * *

Shiina was chopping firewood beside the gardens, bringing down her favored axe with heavy and effective swings. It was an old axe, the only thing she had left of Masami's late father (after Hinami had sold every other memento), but she was strong and knew how to handle it. She'd been using it again ever since Matsushita's leaving, a stubborn reminder to herself that Hinami could not sell everything. She wouldn't let her.

But why had she let her take  _him_ …

Far above her head, Masami was sitting on the wall and quietly strumming a guitar Shiina had made for her. The laundry was air-drying beside her. She and Shiina both knew she shouldn't be sitting idle, but the girl just couldn't help playing music when she was nervous. And so Shiina shook her head at her daughter and chopped louder, the steady percussions of the axe sure to distract from the music if any Fukuda was listening in.

But a moment later she hesitated, stopping her arms in mid-swing. She'd seen movement out of the corner of her eye. Glancing up warily, the woman peered out into the field.

Two figures rounded the willow tree. Yuri had finally returned carrying an armful of wildflowers. And the tall, stocky fellow chaperoning her—

Shiina numbly let the axe fall from her hands. It hit the grass with a heavy thud.

"Mat… Matsu…"

Her heart became lodged in her throat as a choked gasp melted into a sob. Half-blinded by tears, she vaulted the last wall and sprinted out into the field.

She didn't know if Masami had ceased strumming or the world had silenced everything but her gasps. She just kept running and didn't stop until she crashed into her husband's arms.

Masami, who had indeed abandoned her guitar when she saw what had stopped her mother's hard work, had practically sung out with joy and was already racing and skipping to catch up. Matsushita threw his free arm around her and embraced both Iwasawas, having still enough strength left to lift them off their feet like he always used to.

"How did you…" Shiina kept asking, at a loss for words as she muffled them into a bear hug. "How did you…"

"I missed you so much…"

Yuri couldn't stop smiling from afar. She hadn't seen Masami cry like this since she was seventeen and watching her mother marry the only father she'd ever known. Not tears of joy, at least. But her friend deserved it. They all did.

It was all Yuri could do to keep from crying. She'd actually done it. The last loving family she had left was finally back together.

_And to think, it all started because of twenty golden pieces…_

Turning to her, the three of them opened their arms and beckoned Yuri into the group hug. She laughingly complied, and that was when her own tears began to fall.

Whatever happened, she would never let their little family be parted again.


	5. The Unwilling Heir

Escorted by the Queen Mother, but no less in trouble, Ayato sulked into the throne room where his father was busily marking up a world map with his compass. Judging by the faces of the guards in the room, things were not going to be pleasant. But when were they ever?

Kimito barely looked up from his work. "You, sir, are restricted to the grounds."

"Are you putting me under house arrest?" Ayato sneered with a scoff as he approached the table. The idea was rather amusing to him. But apparently not to his dear father, who threw down his compass in anger.

"Do not mock me, boy, for I am in a foul disposition," the old man snarled, and beat his fist on the map. "And I will have my way, or—"

"Or what? You'll ship me to the Americas like some criminal?" Ayato stormed past his father, throwing up his hands in frustration. Even on a normal day he wouldn't have the patience for any of his father's royal tirades. "All for the sake of your stupid contract…"

"You are the Crown Prince of Maeda!" Kimito bellowed.

Turning, Ayato gave the old man a snide bow. "And it is my life."

"Kimito, sit down before you have a stroke," Queen Ayame lectured, coming around the table. "Really, the two of you."

The men glowered at each other but obeyed, Kimito retreating to his seat at the table while Ayato perched himself on the steps to the throne. Placated, Ayame turned to her son.

"Sweetheart," Ayame said, looking at him sympathetically but keeping an edge of firmness in her usual gentle voice. "You were born to privilege, and with that comes… specific obligations."

Ayato narrowed his eyes mistrustfully. "Forgive me, Mother, but marriage to a complete stranger never made anyone in this room very happy."

The jab had its effect on his mother, whose face significantly fell as she studied the tiles on the floor. But before remorse could fully hit him, an unaffected Kimito pivoted in his chair and leaned forward with deadliness in his tone. "You will marry Nagisa by the next full moon or I will strike at you in any way I can!"

If he weren't so far away, Ayato might've yawned in his face. "What's it to be, Father? Hot oil or the rack?"

Kimito leapt from his chair in a rage. "I will simply deny you the crown and… live forever!"

Was that all he'd got? Was he sure about that? Ayato almost wanted to laugh at the terrible threat. The old man was getting rusty already.

"Good. Agreed," he said, standing up as well and staring him straight in the eye. Did Kimito even remember who he was talking to? This was a genuine question. Through gritted teeth, Ayato spelled out a reminder: "I. Don't. Want it."

And then he marched out of the throne room, dismissing himself. He could hear his father screaming "he's  _your_ son" at the queen before the door slammed shut.

* * *

Clutching her alibi to her chest, Yuri took clever care to turn down the smile on her face a few notches as she went to find an empty basket or vase for the wildflowers. There was one room with a vase of flowers that needed to be switched out, but it sounded like Hisako and Yui were occupying it at the moment.

Whatever. Yui wouldn't be a problem, and she refused to let anything Hisako said get to her for the rest of the day. Plus she heard dice rolling and figured they were playing a board game. For all her awful traits, Hisako was a highly focused game-player. She might not even bother to look up. With that in mind, Yuri quietly headed into the room with her flowers.

And she was right – Hisako did not look up. But she must've caught sight of Yuri's shadow, or smelled human flesh or something, because she chuckled softly as she rolled the dice. " _Somebody's in trouble,_ " she singsonged under her breath.

Yuri paused, glancing at Hisako suspiciously. That sounded too happy to be anything good.

"What do you mean…?" she asked, the hairs on the back of her neck pricking up. And then, in a rush of footsteps and a painful grip on her ear, she found the beginnings of her answer.

"You stupid, stupid girl!" Hinami shrieked, shoving her forward and throwing her into the rocking chair. The flowers were lost to her in the scuffle. "How dare you do this to me? To Hisako?! The whole thing makes me sick – it's  _deceitfulness,_ Yuri, and I will not have it in my house!"

Yuri struggled to catch her breath as she stared, bewildered, into the fiery eyes of her outraged stepmother. "What did I do?"

Hisako leaned back against her chair, taking a break from the game in favor of better entertainment.

"Think, Yuri," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Think really hard."

Yuri was about two seconds from having a panic attack –  _Oh God, what did she know?! –_ but then she noticed Yui frantically mouthing the word "horse" while she made trotting gestures with her fingers. Hisako noticed as well, and looked unimpressed at her sister for giving hints. Sheepish, Yui squeaked and grabbed the dice to turn her gestures into a roll.

In that time, Yuri had managed to gather her wits with a slow breath.

"Prince Ayato stole our horse this morning?" she answered shakily. Not the worst thing the baroness could know about, but still not good.

"Yeeeees," Hinami drew out the word condescendingly. "And that would explain why he returned it this afternoon." Placing her hands firmly on her hips, she glowered at Yuri in disgust. "How  _dare_  you let him surprise us like that!"

"I'm sorry," Yuri breathed, mentally smacking herself for her lapse in judgment. In her defense she hadn't thought he would return it so quickly, if at all. Well then, props to His Highness for having at least a little bit of a conscience.

Hinami turned away with a flourish of her gown, gliding over to her daughters' table.

"Luckily for you, Hisako turned in a beautiful performance," the baroness said proudly, draping an arm over Hisako's chair. "She and the prince had quite an interlude."

Hisako hummed with confidence. "Yes. I shouldn't be surprised if he drops by again," she said coolly, giving another roll of the dice.

Yuri squinted at the coy triumph in her stepsister's voice. This really was like just another game to be won for her, wasn't it? Call her a dreamer who read too many stories, but Yuri personally believed that a person should want to marry for love. Hisako's interest in the prince was so… forced, almost. Her eyes only faintly gleamed at talk of becoming queen. But at times, upon mention of the prince, they grew calculated and hollow. Nothing like what Yuri had just seen in Shiina's when she reunited with her husband.

Yuri almost felt bad for her, and she couldn't put her finger on why. After all, if Hisako was just pursuing the prince for status' sake, then she was bringing it upon herself. So hey, as long as that was what she wanted.

She was sure it would work out splendidly between the two shallow lovebirds…

"Come, come!" Hinami clapped her hands at her, startling her out of her thoughts. "I must know exactly what was said. The simplest phrase can have a thousand meanings." She paced in front of Yuri's chair for a few seconds with her arms crossed, then looked accusingly to her stepdaughter. "He said you were forceful. What did you say?"

Yuri grimaced; God, what  _hadn't_ she said to the prince today? She looked to Yui for help, who bit her lip and conveyed strong warning through her big, round eyes.

"I… called him a thief, stepmother," Yuri confessed, having wracked her brains for the safest and most tersely honest route. "I didn't recognize him!"

Clapping a hand over her mouth, Hinami burst into peals of gleeful pitying laughter. She shared a look with Hisako, who made no effort to hide a smirk, then turned to Yuri with a patronizing smile. "Oh, Yuri… you poor little country girl."

Lowering her eyes, Yuri awkwardly stared down at her dirt-stained fingers.  _You don't know the half of it,_ she thought privately.

"Well," the baroness said exuberantly, "we must work extra hard to make sure the manor is spotless! We cannot have a royal bottom sitting on a dirty chaise, now can we?" She echoed Yuri's soft headshake. "No."

Suddenly something at the doorway attracted Hisako's attention. "What is  _he_ doing here?" she asked curiously.

Matsushita the Fifth was standing there with Shiina and Masami, the latter doing a very good job at masking a dour look as she spared a glance at Hisako.

"I… I have worked off your…" Matsushita cleared his throat, swiftly correcting himself, " _my_ debts, Fukuda-san. They told me I could go home."

"Fine." Hinami fluttered her fingers dismissively at him. "Go… catch a chicken."

Puzzled but visibly relieved, Matsushita whirled around and left with Shiina in tow. Masami lingered at the doorway to sneak a subtle victorious half-smile into the room, then demurely took her leave as well.

Yuri pursed her lips in an effort not to grin at her friend's classic "blink-and-you'll-miss-it" irreverence. The mission was a success, but they couldn't afford to dance around their victory. Too many messes had been made today for her to breathe easy. She would have to be more careful in the future.

And yet, she couldn't wait to tell the Iwasawas the juicy details.

* * *

That night, Queen Ayame proposed with some light cheekiness that Ayato join her for a stroll rather than make another escape attempt. Ayato found his mother much more reasonable and easy to talk to than their beloved king, so he'd accepted without much reluctance. Additionally, he did have a pressing question to ask her. Now here they were in the wisteria tunnels, the moon sneaking through the canopies to light their path.

"Who, dear?" his mother asked, blithely gliding along without a care. The name had not seemed to faze her.

"Countess Ehana Sakurai," he tried again, still hopeful. The name had rooted itself in his mind since it finally passed the stubborn girl's lips. "She is a cousin of… well, actually she didn't say."

The queen laughed at him, good-naturedly of course. Well-deserved too. He knew he didn't have much to go on here.

"Surely you have heard of her?" he asked, turning to his mother. She was the queen, after all, and had a soft spot for vibrant and clever young women. Perhaps one of the ladies she had tea with had spoken highly of Ehana in the past.

"Darling, there are simply too many courtiers to remember them all by name," she said dismissively, taking a delicate sip of wine. Then her strides slowed, and she peered at him over the rim of the goblet. "Why do you ask?"

Ayato shook his head. "Oh, never mind."

How was he to explain it, really? Simply put, the countess and her sharp tongue were all he could think about today. No one had ever talked back to him like that, at least not when they knew who he was. Even the servant girl who'd bombarded him with fruit fell prostrate with repentance when he revealed himself to her. But Ehana, she had looked him straight in the eye and scorched his soul with her honesty. He'd never experienced anything like it.

However, it would do no good to tell his mother how terribly interesting he found this girl. She might find it terribly  _concerning_  since he was already engaged to another.

God, that  _stupid_ contract…!

"In honor of Miss Tachibana," proclaimed King Kimito from behind, his dusty voice echoing throughout the tunnel as he approached, "I have decided to throw a ball. A masked ball." Curious, mother and son turned in unison to acknowledge his decree, but Kimito looked specifically to the prince as he spoke. "At which point, you and I will strike a compromise."

Ayato raised a cynical eyebrow. "Compromise? You?"

The king did not appear to share his amusement. He waited until Ayato wisely wiped the sneer off his face to continue.

"If love is what you seek, I suggest you find it before then," Kimito warned. "For five days hence, at the stroke of midnight _,_ you will announce your engagement to the girl of your choice. Or, I will announce it for you. Are we agreed?"

Ayato still couldn't believe what he just heard. He shared a puzzled glance with his mother, who could no more easily tell if the man was unwell, before turning slowly to face his father. "And what of your treaty?"

Kimito just snorted.

"Let me worry about Toba," he replied curtly. "You've got bigger problems."

It appeared this was the real deal after all. Turning back to her son, Queen Ayame squeezed his hand to wish him good luck. "Choose wisely, Ayato," she said, searching his eyes. "Divorce is not going to be an option for you."

Ayato nodded as an uncaring Kimito turned to leave the way he came. Their marriage was a disastrous, miserable mismatch he vowed not to replicate. If they wanted heirs, they had better follow through on this, because he would not subject a child to the same dysfunction.

At the end of the tunnel, Ayato bid his mother goodnight and climbed the stairs to his tower. He finished unraveling his bedsheet rope, then lingered at the window to gaze out at the kingdom.

Five days. He had five days to choose someone. Was that enough time to fall in love with a person? Fondness, maybe, which was better than nothing.

But love… love was far more complicated. Perhaps he did find love for once but the girl didn't feel the same level of it that he did? Worse, what if she married him anyway because she believed she could not say no to his offer? Simply because of what he was?

Marriage was clearly within his grasp, but true love was the one thing his powers couldn't control. And thanks to his "privilege" as well as his "specific obligations," it was also the most evasive.

Ayato pushed himself away from the window sill with a sigh, chancing one last glimpse at his kingdom. How was he supposed to find his true love out there if he was unable to find a simple courtier?

Grabbing a book from his shelf, he retreated to bed to quiet his racing mind. With a rare compromise like this, the least he could do was try.

* * *

In the morning, the baroness answered a doorbell to find none other than her favorite little mole with a letter in his hand.

Oh, and it was not just any letter the royal page had for her. No, dear Takeyama had come to deliver an invitation to a very special ball. The king and queen were hosting a masquerade in honor of the young prodigy Miss Kanade Tachibana, whom the palace was hosting as artist-in-residence. Hinami could tell by the special glint behind the man's frames that there was much more hiding behind this masque.

"What news of the engagement?" Hinami whispered.

"Canceled," said Takeyama, straightening his glasses and keeping his voice low. "Rumor has it he must find himself a bride before that very night."

"Well, that doesn't give us very much time." She slipped the invitation back into its envelope and reached into her coin purse. With each request, she placed a coin in his outstretched palm. "I shall need to know who the competition is..." ( _clink)_ , "every move he makes…" ( _clink)_ , "his agenda…" A smattering of coins dropped into the pile for good measure. "And any other tidbits you might pick up."

Takeyama cast a furtive glance behind him to make sure there were no other listening ears, then leaned in conspiratorially. "He's playing with the Marquis Ooyama tomorrow at noon."

Hinami's lips curved into a flirtatious smile.

"A skin of such elegance," she said, stroking his cheek and letting her finger trail teasingly down his chest, "concealing such ruthlessness." She pinched his nose in happiness. "I've grown rather fond of our intrigues together. Surely you must know that."

His glasses fogged. "I'm having an inkling, my lady."

Ah, her favorite little mole. So smart, and yet she could still make him think with a different brain. "When my daughter is queen, perhaps we might come to a new arrangement," she breathed, and blew him a kiss.

Smirking, he bid her good day – and almost walked right into his horse while he was furiously cleaning his lenses. The poor dear. Hinami huffed with quiet laughter, then hastened up the steps to tell her daughters the good news. The next five days would be very busy for them.

* * *

Yuri might have made a mistake in confiding to the Iwasawas about yesterday's adventures.

Here she was, out back at the beehives trying to collect the honeycombs  _as ordered_ , and Masami was still a bigger pest than the bees that were currently buzzing around their protective hats. The girl had thought it was an absolute riot when she'd heard how the prince had trailed her right to the gate, and kept joking that she'd gotten more attention from him in ten minutes than Hisako had dreamed of in the last ten years.

Every so often, Masami would break into a little grin and cover her mouth before she quietly cracked up, and Yuri knew with a roll of her eyes that she was thinking about it again. Geez… She was glad it tickled her so, but it wasn't like that at all!

And yet, as Yuri was innocently scraping at the honeycombs, Masami started up once again with her musical little chuckle.

"Man," she said in gentle wonder, keeping her laughter still enough to hold out the plate for the honey, "I would've given anything to see you all dressed up like a courtier. Speaking to the prince like a lady!"

"Scolding him is more like it," Yuri corrected with a small scoff, turning to set another comb on the pile before going back for more. "And I can't believe I gave him my  _mother's_ name."

That had all the potential to come back and bite her in the ass, for sure, but it was the only name she could think of at the time. He'd never heard of it. The court had certainly never heard of it. And not a living soul still owned it. Foolproof, right?

… _Ugh._ Why did he have to drag it out of her like that?

"The man is insufferable," she decided, picking determinedly at the last honeycomb. The bees droning in her ear bore an odd resemblance to his obnoxious snicker.

Masami nodded seriously, watching as she set aside the scraper. "Yes, you've been saying that," she noted with an audible grin. "All day."

Capping the hive, Yuri paused to send her a glare, despite her face being hidden behind the netting of her hat. "Well, it's as true now as it was this morning," she assured her, and stepped back to lift her protective veil.

" _Yuri,_ " Masami tsked, setting the plate down so she could remove her own netting. "He's royalty. They're born like that."

Yuri handed her the honeycomb plate once her hands were free. As they started walking back to the manor together, she conceded with a sigh, "Well, then I guess the penalty for being wealthy is that you have to live with the rich."

"I bet he's actually quite charming," Masami reasoned with a lazy smile, and playfully nudged Yuri's arm. "Once you get to know him."

Charming? Even the suggestion made Yuri snort. Sure, if she thought being a condescending smartass who always demanded his way was  _charming_. Then yes, of course, just call him Prince Charming. While they were at it, maybe Hisako was charming as well!

Yuri grinned even wider. "Honestly, I think he and Hisako deserve each other."

"Oh, take that back!" Masami exclaimed.

Yuri stopped in her tracks, a little bewildered by her reaction. Where had  _that_ come from? An outburst like that was rare and unexpected from "the cool beauty" (Yuri's and Matsushita's long-lived nickname for her).

Though her rosy cheeks betrayed her embarrassment, Masami wasn't deterred as she locked eyes meaningfully with Yuri. "The only throne I want  _her_ sitting on is the one I have to clean every day." With that, she spun on her heel and resumed her stride towards the house.

Snorting with laughter, Yuri picked up her skirts and raced to catch up. In all honesty she should have seen that coming. A goldmine of sass lay buried beneath her dear friend's gentle soul, Hinami's elder daughter of course being her biggest muse.

One of these days Masami Iwasawa was going to compose a ballad based on the merits of Hisako Fukuda – and by God, Yuri wanted to be around to hear it.


	6. A Tumble With Tachibana

"What's wrong with this one?" Hinami asked, retrieving a perfectly good dress from Hisako's reject pile.

"It's  _blue,"_  her daughter said, as if it were obvious.

"Ayato loves blue!"

Hisako scoffed, "And fifty other girls will be wearing the exact same color."

Beaming with maternal pride, Hinami waggled a finger at her. "Very good, Hisako." She could see she had taught her well; these seemingly miniscule details would be crucial in planning for the ball.

They were sitting in Hisako's bedroom, and had been sorting through dresses for what felt like hours since she broke the news of the masque this morning. The problem was that nothing seemed to satisfy Hisako. They had gone through most of her outfits already and her dear perfectionist had found flaws in all of them.

Reasonable flaws, granted, but they only had five days until the ball. There was still so much to prepare. And in the meantime, she would still need to find something suitable for the tennis match tomorrow.

Light footsteps skittered across the wooden floor, and in walked Yui fidgeting and pulling at her bodice. "This one's too tight," she complained.

Hisako snorted as she rose from the floor to inspect the wardrobe. "Too tight for what, your enormous chest?"

Yui squeaked in dismay, crossing her arms protectively over the flatness her sister regularly teased her about. Then she pulled at the fabric some more. "I'm serious! I can't even breathe in this!"

A considering hum from Hinami. "If one cannot breathe, one cannot eat," she hinted.

The younger Fukuda made a sad sound and slowed her fidgeting. Yui had a predilection for sweets and pastries and other things that not only packed on pounds but gave her unladylike energy. Hinami had warned the girl before that her hyperactivity made her noisy and aggressive. It was a nuisance that no upstanding gentleman would find attractive or marriageable and she had a right mind to ban her from indulging, especially at the ball.

"Mother! I need you to focus here," Hisako chastised, throwing another gown to the floor in disgust.

Hinami followed her around the bedpost, similarly exasperated. "Darling, I don't even know what you're looking for!"

"Something fit for a queen!" she groaned, and collapsed onto the mattress.

At once the gears began to click inside Hinami's head, as if her daughter's words had unlocked the hinges of a dusty treasure chest. Of course! Why didn't she think of it  _hours_ ago?

"Come ladies, I have just the thing." The baroness beckoned them with a finger before bringing it to her lips. "But we must speak of this to no one."

"Oh,  _now_  we're talking," Hisako said giddily, pushing herself back up and hopping off the bed after her.

Hisako and Yui followed at their mother's heels as she led them down the corridor towards her bedchambers. She stopped at the end of her bed, where an elegant and intricately carved wooden chest awaited them.

"Waste not," Hinami unlocked the chest with a satisfying click, "want not."

Lifting the lid, she delicately loosened a few ribbons as if unwrapping a Christmas present. The protective linens came unfolded to reveal the most exquisite dress either girl had ever seen. It was like the gods had threaded it with silver and champagne and the finest silks, the stars embedded in the neckline and sleeves as jewels and glittering beads.

"It's perfect," Hisako purred, following the dress in a trance as Hinami made a grand show of pulling it out.

Yui looked longingly at the dress, biting her lip to hold back a whine. Would she  _ever_ get to wear something as pretty as that? Or would everything go to Hisako in the end… She could already hear Hisako's snide voice in her head:  _You'd just end up tearing it somehow._  Oh, she would not!

Catching herself in mid-growl, she tore her gaze away from the dress as something else under the linens caught her attention. Moving quickly before Hisako noticed them, she dove in and snatched up the hidden pair of slippers.

"Look at these shoes," she breathed. They were heavy like glass, so she made certain to handle them with care as she examined them more closely. Silvery like the dress, but riddled with tiny blue and white gems. The most perfect little treasures – she couldn't believe her mother had never shown them off before! "Where did you get these?"

A wicked smile crept over Hinami's lips. "They're Yuri's dowry. For her  _wedding_."

"Cinder-soot? Married?" Hisako raised an eyebrow but didn't look up from admiring the dress's beautiful hem. "To who, the chimney sweep?"

"Mother, if it's Yuri's dress, shouldn't she wear it to the ball?" Yui frowned, fingering the skirt. She actually wouldn't be as jealous if Yuri was the one who got to wear something this pretty.

"Since when does a royal function include commoners?" Hisako scoffed, taking a moment to squint at her as Hinami held the dress up against her chest.

"Well, never," Yui said carefully. She didn't usually press the issue; it just made her uncomfortable to watch them shamelessly model Yuri's things like this. She tried again, "But she is our stepsister, and the invitation did say 'to the ladies of the house—'"

"She's not of noble blood," Hisako singsonged under her breath.

Hinami looked highly affronted at the thought. "And besides, who would notice? No one."

"Honestly, Yui. Whose side are you on?"

Yui buttoned her mouth shut and became very invested in the shoes again. Good thing that was a rhetorical question, because sometimes… oh, never mind…

"What are you doing?"

Mother and daughter startled at once, Hisako dropping the hem of the dress and pushing it back towards Hinami. Standing in the doorway holding an armful of firewood was none other than the rightful owner of that gown, and of course she looked very confused to see it.

Yui turned to her mother and sister expectantly, a tad smug that they'd been caught red-handed. She'd like to see them talk their way out of this one!

The baroness hesitated at first, but smoothly recovered with a warm smile.

"Airing out your dress, dear," she replied sweetly. "For the masque."

"Her dress?" Yui stared at her mother like she'd grown an extra limb. "But you  _just_ said—"

"I suppose for a commoner it'll have to do," Hisako broke in, shrugging. She chuckled nervously and picked at the pearled sleeve in feigned distaste. "I mean, look at it. It's practically an antique."

Reasonably skeptical, Yuri stepped forward with some caution. A slight smile broke through nonetheless. "You want me… to go to a masque?"

"Of course, darling," Hinami practically sang. "After all, the invitation did say, 'to the ladies of the house!'" Beside her, Hisako gave a nod of cool approval.

As Yui went wide-eyed and pink in the face, Yuri fixed her fascinations on the baroness. Oh wow... They were really serious, weren't they? The cancellation of Prince Ayato's engagement must've put them in a generous mood or something. Was there a catch? There had to be a catch.

"I… I don't know what to say." Seriously, what was the catch?

"Say?" Hinami tittered, putting a hand to her heart as if she'd been wounded. "Honestly, Yuri. It hurts me you don't feel like one of my daughters." Yuri opened her mouth to speak, but the woman cut her off and added brightly, "I thought we might go as one big happy family!"

"Mm!" Hisako hummed agreeably, like this seemed a fantastic idea.

"Just as long as you complete your chores in time, mind your manners until then—"

Uttering a disgusted growl, Yui flung the slippers back into the chest and stomped out of the room. Muttering to herself the entire way. Yuri watched as she left, then faced the other two with a raised eyebrow.

"What's the matter with her?" she asked.

Hisako tsked, shaking her head at the empty doorway. "She doesn't want you to go."

Yuri just side-eyed her with a frown and scooted by to put away the firewood. That sounded like a big fat lie to her – but then again, she'd take a lot of things Hisako said with a grain of salt.

Including the masque, which still sounded a bit too good to be true. Even if… even if it was entirely plausible that the prospect of the masque had flared some goodness in her stepmother's heart. She mustn't get her hopes up just yet.

Although it might be already too late.

* * *

In the early afternoon, Prince Ayato found himself skipping rocks by the lakeside. He'd indeed escaped the castle walls again, but this time he had "received permission," and he had not gone alone.

"Do you really think there is only one perfect mate?" he asked, pacing away from the water.

"Hmm?" Kanade glanced up from the back of the cart, where she was rummaging through a few oddities she'd brought along. "Well, yes I do."

It was mutually beneficial that she had come along. Besides the fact that his parents thought it wise of him to entertain and welcome her to the kingdom somehow (unaware that he later convinced Hinata to keep the royal guard at bay), she desired the opportunity to test some new projects of hers, and he… well, he needed an honest conversationalist.

And a girl at that. Perhaps she could help him understand them a little better.

"Well, then how can you be certain to find them?" Fiddling with the stone in his fingers, Ayato didn't wait for a response as his brain latched onto another question. "And if you do find them, are they really the one for you or do you only think they are? And what happens if the person you're supposed to be with never appears – or she  _does_ , but you're too distracted to notice?"

"You learn to pay attention," Kanade said bluntly.

Dubious, Ayato shifted the skipping stone from one palm to another as he watched her reach back into the cart for something. He couldn't fathom how she made it sound like it was truly that simple.

"Then let's say…  _God,_ " he tried, squinting doubtfully at the heavens, "puts two people on Earth and they're lucky enough to find each other. But then one of them… gets hit by lightning." He threw out his arms in frustration. "Well then what? Is that it?!"

A perfectly reasonable question if he did say so himself. It didn't even have to be lightning. Illness, fire, crashing out of a tree, whatever! It could happen. He knew the world to be that cruel.

The cart creaked from shifting weight, and Kanade's light footsteps carried onto the sand behind him. She remained knowingly silent, as if waiting in patience for him to come up with another question. Which was in fact quite astute of her because two more just popped into his head.

"Or suppose you meet someone new and fall in love all over again, is  _that_  the woman you were supposed to be with or was it the first?" He'd halted in his tracks at this point, genuinely indignant. "And if so, when the two of them were walking side by side, were they  _both_ the one for you and you just  _happened_  to meet the first one first, or… was the second one supposed to be first…?"

Huffing the bangs out of his eyes, he turned back to the calm waters with a sigh. He was rambling and he was surely going to give himself a headache.

"And is everything just chance, or..." Ayato launched the small stone across the lake, his eyes tracing its every rippling impact, "are some things meant to be?"

"You mustn't leave everything to fate, sire," Kanade chided from behind him, a hint of amusement in her bell-like voice. Ayato spun around to make certain she wasn't mocking him, but she'd bent to set down some peculiar winged shoes. "She has so much to do. Sometimes we need to give her a hand."

That made some sense, but now his interest in the subject was compromised. He snorted, politely of course, as she gingerly stepped out of her shoes and toed at the pair made of wood. "What  _is_  this project, anyway?"

She blinked up at him. "Would you like to try them out?"

"I believe I'll pass," he said nicely, having already taken a guess. "But I fail to see what the wings are for."

"They're decorations."

"Decorations?"

"Hmm." She sat down and started pulling the odd bulky things on her tiny feet. Shaking his head, Ayato laughed to himself and tossed another stone. Perhaps this would be a treat to watch.

* * *

With her pet boar Mamoru at her assistance, Yuri wandered through the forest in search of truffles for this evening's dinner. Mamoru had an old soul but his sniffer still did the trick. Her basket was already half-full and he was still snuffling about in a pile of fallen leaves.

Taking his lead, Yuri knelt and rifled through the leaves for a couple of truffles, one of which she set aside in her basket. She was reaching for the second when she got a good look at her hands and had to pause. They were totally filthy from digging; each fingernail had dirt caked underneath it.

 _What's the matter, Cindersoot?_  Hisako's voice taunted inside her head. _Ashes just not enough anymore?_

Imagine, touching her mother's dress with these hands… Yuri frowned, casting a contemplative glance towards the lake. Its soothing waters were calling to her.

A quick dip wouldn't be so bad, right? She'd practically filled the basket. Hinami had agreed just yesterday that her appearance was too crude for her liking, so washing off in the lake would do her some good. Consider it a smart investment towards the masque.

Satisfied with her logic, Yuri stood up and gave Mamoru's ears a quick affectionate scratch.

"Guard those for me, will you?" she said cheerfully. "I'll only be a moment."

Mamoru grunted a confirmation, and so Yuri patted him goodbye and scurried down the incline towards the glistening water.

* * *

Best idea she'd had in a long time, she decided moments later as she floated on her back, feeling the water carry her gently along with each smooth stroke.

The rhythm was so relaxing she could barely keep her eyes open. Her senses were lost to her and yet at the same time so tuned; there was a sweet scent in the air like fresh wind before a storm. Above her was an overcast sky, keeping the world pleasantly mild for her.

If she dared, she might just fall asleep right here and let the water take her wherever it thought she belonged. She closed her eyes for only a second, basking in her freedom – and when she opened them again, an angel was peering down at her.

"It looks like rain," she said softly.

Yuri screamed, startling the angel into a scream of her own as she lost her balance. Both girls still shrieking at each other, the latter toppled heels over head into the water with a calamitous splash until all Yuri could see of her was two wooden winged capsized boats.

By the time she resurfaced, Yuri was treading water again and had managed to regain her senses as well as her breath. Not an angel. A regular human girl with silver hair and currently very wide owlish eyes. She'd removed the boats from her feet and was using one as a floatation device as she simply stared at Yuri in a perpetual puzzlement.

"…Sorry," Yuri offered, unsure of what else to say.

The girl continued to stare silently. And then, out of nowhere, she broke into a fit of delighted giggles. Yuri started cracking up too, unable to help herself in light of the situation. Still giggling and shaking their heads at themselves, the two of them helped one another to shore.

Right as they were reaching shallower water, a male voice rang out from along the banks.

"Miss Tachibana! Are you alright?"

 _Tachibana?_ Yuri glanced at the girl, feeling another wave of shock coming on. She hadn't seriously almost drowned famous pianist and art aficionado  _Kanade_   _Tachibana_ , had she?

"I should leave walking on water for the son of God," Kanade confessed to the man who came running towards them to help. Smiling, she nodded over to Yuri. "Thank goodness I tripped over an angel."

Yuri was about to point out the irony of that statement when she lifted her head and found a familiar face gazing back at her, glowing with the same recognition.

"Countess!" Prince Ayato said in amazement.

"Your Highness," Yuri managed, equally stunned as her hand dropped from Kanade's. She tried for some form of a curtsy, but as luck would have it, her legs fell out from under her and sent her crashing forward with another undignified splash. Cheeks burning, she shamefully let Kanade pull her back on her feet. "Uh, careful. It's… it's very slippery right there."

"Here, please," he hastily removed his cloak and draped it over her, "allow me."

Wrapping it snug around her shoulders, Yuri sighed gratefully as it enveloped her in his lingering warmth. "Thank you," she said with a grin. Alright, so maybe he did have a gentlemanly side to him.

Later, while the artist Kanade Tachibana had headed up the lakeside to dry off in private, Yuri allowed herself a moment to sit on the pebble beach with Prince Ayato.

' _How surreal is this…?'_ she thought to herself, and buried herself deeper into his cloak.

This was the second day in a row that she'd run into him on his lonesome. If this was to become a regular occurrence, she might as well see if Masami was right. Maybe there was more to this prince than first impressions had inferred.

"Where are your attendants?" he asked her, breaking the surprisingly comfortable silence that had settled between them.

Yuri cursed inwardly, but managed an impassive shrug. "I decided to give them the day off."

"A day off!" he echoed, looking wildly amused at the idea. "From what,  _life_?"

"Don't you ever get tired of having people wait on you all the time?" Yuri pressed. And this was something she was genuinely curious about. She didn't see any royal guards or attendants with him either. In fact, hadn't he been running from them just yesterday?

"Yes, but…" Prince Ayato furrowed his brow at first, then laughed it off with a wave of his hand. "They're servants. It's what they do."

Yuri narrowed her eyes. She should have known, this guy had the depth of a chamber pot.

"Well I wish I could dismiss mine as easily as you do yours," she said through clenched teeth, and pulled herself to her feet. "Excuse me, Your Highness, but I have to go."

"You're angry with me," he said excitedly.

"No," she replied, and kept walking. She refused to give him the satisfaction.

"Admit it!"

At the sound of gravel crunching beneath his boots just behind her, Yuri sighed and clenched her fingers in the cloak's soft fabric. His Royal Persistence was at it again. She breathed out sharply through her nose and spun on her heel to face him. "Well,  _yes_  if you must know!"

"Why?"

"Because you're trying to bait me with your snobbery!" she snapped.

Prince Ayato blinked in surprise.

"You, Sakurai-san, are a walking contradiction," he said slowly, putting a hand on his hip as he regarded her with marked interest. "And I find that rather fascinating."

"Me?" Yuri asked, wary. Was that his idea of a compliment? The last thing she wanted was his scrutiny… but she was  _fascinating?_

"Yes, you," he insisted. "You spout the ideals of a Utopian society while you live the life of a courtier!"

"And  _you_ own all the land there is and yet you take no pride in working it!" Yuri shot back, crossing her arms at him through the cloak. "Isn't that also a contradiction?"

He folded his arms right back at her as his face broke out in a smile. "First I'm arrogant, and now I have no pride. However do I manage that?"

"You have everything, and still the world holds no joy," she fumed, her thumb grazing the cloak's jeweled clasp. "And yet you insist on making fun of people who try to see it for its possibilities!"

Gold eyes studied hers for a moment, then he shook his head in disbelief.

"How do you do it?" he asked.

"What?"

"Live each day with this kind of passion," he said with a furrowed brow, and ran a hand through his windblown hair. "Don't you find it exhausting?"

Yuri pursed her lips in thought.

"Only when I'm around you," she considered, squinting at him. "Why do you like to irritate me so much?"

"Why do you rise to the occasion?"

His challenging eyebrow raise dissipated into a boyish smirk, so contagious that Yuri's lip biting couldn't save her from a smile of her own. Her hand flew to her mouth as they both started cracking up.

Alright, so he had her there. He kept baiting her and she just kept eating it up. Sure, he was ignorant, but for all his faults he was terribly entertaining. She didn't think she'd had this much fun debating someone in, well,  _ever_ —

"YURI!"

A high-pitched voice called out in the distance, a voice that could only belong to Yui. Covering up a wince, Yuri shot a quick glance over her shoulder. Her younger stepsister had appeared farther down the shore, wandering around in a puzzled state with the basket of truffles on her arm while Mamoru happily slaked his thirst at her feet.

 _Crap._  She looked back to Prince Ayato, who didn't seem too fazed by Yui or her reaction. Which was all well and good, but she had better end Yui's search now before things got messy.

Unceremoniously, she shrugged off his cloak and pushed it into his arms. "Forgive me, Your Highness, I've lost track of the hour."

"But the wind…?" said Kanade, intercepting her on the hill with a butterfly-shaped contraption clutched to her chest. "It's perfect!"

"I am sorry," Yuri managed, pausing to flash a contrite smile before breaking into a run.

"I'm playing tennis tomorrow with the Marquis Ooyama, will you come?" the prince's voice called after her.

"Can't hear you, gotta run!" she yelled back, and fled into the trees.

Ayato and Kanade watched her go, the former looking a bit lost as he held his bundled cloak under his arm. They shared a puzzled glance before staring back into the forest.

_That woman…_

"Why does she keep doing that?" Ayato asked.

Kanade just shrugged.

* * *

That evening, Yuri leaned against the corner of the dining room, clutching the crystal water pitcher and drifting in and out of her thoughts as the Fukudas enjoyed their evening meal. The darkness in the room thankfully hid the occasional grin that tugged at her lips. It was just that whenever she looked at Hinami and Hisako, it was hard to keep a straight face. While they were busying themselves with what to wear to the masque,  _she'd_  been wearing the prince's cloak. Could they even imagine?

And Otonashi… man, she couldn't  _wait_ to tell him she'd met Kanade Tachibana. The guy absolutely adored her work. What would he say if he found out she'd turned down a chance to test one of her contraptions? She'd probably never hear the end of it…

"Masami, where are the candlesticks?" Hinami's disapproval cut through the silence. She gestured in front of her at the table, dimly lit by feeble excuses for candles. "We can hardly see our plates."

"They're missing, Fukuda-san," Masami said from her place by the door next to Shiina. "I've searched everywhere for them."

"The painting in the upstairs hall is gone too," Hisako added, thoughtfully picking at her food. She snuck a coy glance in her mother's direction. "Seems we have a thief in our midst."

The baroness gave one of her indignant yet dainty little huffs.

"So this is how I'm treated after all our years together. My husband's prized possessions?" She turned in her chair and shot the women a scandalized look, complete with a tight-lipped frown. "I think I'll just garnish your wages until the stolen items are returned. Understood?"

"Yes, Fukuda-san," Shiina and Masami said in monotonous unison.

Trying not to gawk in disbelief, Yuri swallowed down her anger and lowered her eyes to the ground. She supposed that was  _one_ way of paying for the brooch.

Hinami sniffed disdainfully while eyeing her chopsticks.

"Perhaps I should ship you off to the Americas with all the rest of the thieves," she muttered, and took a bite. Beside her, a strange expression came over Hisako's face that was hard to make out in the darkness. But if Yuri had to venture a guess, it was probably a broad smile.

"Oh!" Yui perked up suddenly as she turned to her mother. "Didn't you know? The prince went to the king and asked him to release all those men!"

Yuri's eyes went wide. "He didn't!"

"Yep! That's what I heard!" Yui said excitedly, looking over at Yuri with the glow of happy gossip just as Hinami threw her a suspicious frown. Yuri straightened up quietly and shut her mouth, but inwardly her mind was racing. "And now, by…"

Yui suddenly registered what had happened, blinked a few times, and turned back to her mother with a more demure manner.

"By royal decree," she continued, clearing her throat, "anyone who sails must be compensated."

"Compensated!" the baroness echoed with a prim but haughty scoff. "Oh, honestly. What is the world coming to?"

"Well, what  _I_ want to know," Hisako spoke up, catching Yuri's eye and shaking her cup in the air like a bell, "is who is this countess everyone keeps talking about? There must've been ten courtiers mentioning her today and how the prince fell all over himself."

Shiina and Masami cast Yuri secret smiles as she made her way to the table with the pitcher, and she had to bite her lip to keep from grinning back.

"We shall have to find out who she is, and  _bury_ her—"

Yuri's hand slipped and knocked over Hisako's cup with a disruptive clatter. Quickly fumbling for it, she ignored the baroness's bewildered glower and began to pour. How fortunate there wasn't nearly enough candlelight to reveal the blush in her cheeks.

She still couldn't believe it. He'd given all those men back their lives. The thought had never crossed her mind that… that he'd actually  _listen._  That he'd even do something about it. Bowing away from the table, she returned to her corner and stared out the window in a daze.

Maybe… maybe she didn't know Prince Ayato as well as she thought she did.

Maybe there was hope for him yet.


	7. Wealthy Benefactor

The Marquis Ooyama was a shy and average-looking youth. With his small stature, messy brown hair, and innocent childlike eyes, even in his courtier status he was easy to underestimate.

And in tennis, that was usually his opponent's downfall.

Prince Ayato mildly wished he'd been given fair warning about Ooyama's skills – other than the smirk Hinata had given him before he handed out the first tennis ball. But despite the idiot's amused looks from the sidelines, Ayato thought he was getting in a few good hits. The problem lay in the fact that Ooyama was adept at knocking them right back with remarkable speed and precision. He barely had time to wipe the sweat from his brow.

Not one to be outsmarted, he followed Ooyama's eyes to the side wall just before a serve, and darted up to lob it back when it ricocheted. It rebounded off the wall onto Ooyama's side and the marquis rushed to meet it, smacking it back directly at Ayato with unexpected force. Lunging for it, the prince didn't even let it hit the ground.

Each swing had the crowd of mostly women exclaiming feverishly from the balcony and the seating area. Considering how fast the word had spread of his canceled engagement, he suspected many had come to personally congratulate or console him after the match.

But was  _she_  one of them…?

A tennis ball smacking against the stone wall above his head shook him back into the present. He should have been watching for that! Cursing under his breath, he scrambled to catch up with the ball as it soared to the other corner of the court. His racket made contact but his focus came at a cost – he didn't notice the court boundary until he'd crashed sideways through the netting and into his shrieking audience.

A sea of chattering courtiers surrounded him, squealing and trying to "assist" him as he rolled off the royal guard he'd knocked over. Ayato reddened furiously and stumbled to his feet, flinging off the tangled netting while the ladies continued to giggle and gush. Perhaps it was fortunate if the countess had missed the match after all… not one of his finest moments.

After retrieving his racket from the guard, Ayato brushed himself off and stepped back onto the court with as much dignity as he could muster. The idiot Hinata was grinning at him. He rolled his eyes and prepared himself for Ooyama's next serve.

Except Ooyama didn't have the ball. He smiled politely and pointed over his shoulder with a nod. Curious, Ayato glanced behind him.

Waiting patiently in front of the window netting, ball in hand, was the ever-smirking Hisako Fukuda. She held it out to him like a piece of forbidden fruit.

_Hm. She certainly knows to make an appearance,_  he conceded, and allowed himself to be lured over amidst the crowd's gasps.

Ayato could admit she was something of a vision, which became clearer as he slowly approached. A wine-colored velvet dress hugged her slender build, and her fringe was pulled back with the rest of her golden brown locks in a beaded hairnet, revealing more of her seductive silver eyes. And going by her neckline, that wasn't the only thing she was revealing today.

"You're looking well, Hisako," he said, taking the ball from her.

Hisako coolly raised an eyebrow, then met his gaze with a coquettish smile. "You're welcome to look, Your Highness."

Ayato chuckled nervously and rejoined Ooyama on the court. Hisako was an attractive woman, but there was something else about her he couldn't put his finger on. Something that didn't match up. Something in her eyes.

Or maybe it was just that they weren't Ehana's.

* * *

While the Fukudas contentedly forgot their financial troubles in favor of the tennis match, Yuri and the Iwasawas were at the marketplace tending to their stand. Shiina was cooing after her wooden animal sculptures that sometimes fetched a small price. Beside her, Masami sang softly to the chickens while she readied the fruit display.

The sounds heartened Yuri as she sifted through corn kernels and shoveled them into canisters. They were the bright spots of market day. On a great week, Masami's voice would drift out like a siren call and draw in a sizeable crowd of eager customers. But to Yuri, these were sounds of peace, and good company. She smiled to herself as the chickens clucked back, then dumped another cup into the canister.

But presently there came the worst sound she dreaded to hear on market day, a sound that made her very soul curdle.

"Yuri Nakamura," purred a raspy, rumbling voice from behind. "You get prettier every week."

Her name falling from his sour tongue sent a tremor of disgust through her spine. "And you, Mr. Tomita, are wasting your flattery," she said sharply, plastering a cordial smile on her face.

Daishi Tomita strolled up to the stand with his lackeys, forever reeking of cigar smoke and whiskey. A wealthy goateed lecher, Tomita was an unfortunate regular at their stand, so Yuri knew from experience that the hunger in his beady black eyes was not reserved for the cornmeal.

"What a pity your soil's the best in the province," he said, curling a lip under his cherished handlebar mustache, "and yet… so poorly tended."

"We have limited resources, sir," Masami said, her tone falsely chipper as she came up next to Yuri and wrapped a protective arm around her. She'd clearly had enough of Tomita's shameless leering. "But we always do our best."

"Anything I can do?" Tomita asked, not taking his eyes off Yuri. Masami was a known beauty, but she was all of twenty-four; Yuri had a sneaking suspicion he liked them younger.

Shiina, who'd been glaring from her woodwork display, joined the girls with a whittling knife still in her grip.

"I suggest you bring it up with the baroness," she warned, "and stick to shopping."

"I'd rather discuss it with Yuri if you don't mind," Tomita replied, watching Shiina's blade with some wariness as Yuri started shucking corn. "I may be twice your age, dearie, but I'm well endowed…"

Yuri made eye contact and violently broke off the corn husk in one hard snap. One of the lackeys gulped.

"As evidenced by my estate," Tomita added innocently.

Having had enough of him for the day, Yuri turned away, desperately hoping he would get bored of playing cat and mouse with her soon enough. Shiina acted as shield and guided her towards the fruit display. Unfortunately, the resolute stench of smoke and musk followed closely after.

"I've always had a soft spot for the less fortunate," the man continued, licking his lips as he towered over her. "You need a wealthy benefactor, and I need a lady with spirit."

Yuri feigned a curious glance over their stock, then smiled brightly and lifted a basket. "No spirit. How about some prunes?"

Tomita snarled, his jaw clenched in an impatient scowl.

"No," he said through his teeth. "In fact, I think I'll pass for this week. Perhaps in that time you'll remember that without my generosity, your  _pathetic_  little farm would cease to exist." He spat the threat like poison, and caught her eye with a meaningful eyebrow raise. "So I'd be  _very_ , very careful if I were you."

With one last sneer, he gestured to his lackeys and skulked away from their stand, disappearing into the crowd.

Once he was gone, Masami made a small sound of disgust.

"Can you believe that guy?" she muttered. "If he didn't buy a bushel of vegetables from us every week, I'd… spit on him."

"I think he'd enjoy that." Shiina sat down and started whittling again, this time more furiously.

Yuri stood in one spot, staring at the place where Tomita had been. The loathsome bastard was gone, but so was his business. And his threat lingered. Though she hated to admit it, he was absolutely right – it was his patronage that practically funded their estate. Hinami wouldn't be pleased that she'd insulted their best customer. Or at least, that's how she would take it.

In fact, how far would Hinami go to take Tomita's side? Would she argue that it sounded like a good business deal? Would she be willing to hand over one of her young and able-bodied servants… her own stepdaughter?

She had a bad feeling she didn't want to know the answer. But hopefully she would mean a little more to the baroness than that.

* * *

If there was one thing Prince Ayato would've traded for in this world, forsaking his crown and the power it carried, hands down it would have to be the talent of hypnotism.

He'd thought so even as a young boy, when he was playing in the ruins with his brother and would've done anything for a way to convince his bullheaded father to let them stay for five more minutes. Or, when he was older and Hinata would catch him trying to sneak out, he'd begrudgingly return to bed and dream of lulling him into a trance where he was a dog and a torch was his beloved bone. With an ability such as this, he could even successfully trick his father into extending the five day search for a bride.

Of course, while he'd long desired this power and wished for it to be real, never once did he voice it out loud. King Kimito would only chastise him for the millionth time about keeping his head in the clouds and always dreaming up impossible things.

But presently Ayato thought that hypnotism must in fact be possible. Because he was now strolling through the marketplace with Hisako by his side, and he hadn't the foggiest idea what had compelled him to do this.

It wasn't just that he was inexperienced in the art of courtship. Especially with his entourage at their heels, which incidentally did nothing for his nerves. Nor was it an issue with her looks. She'd been granted a warm and simple beauty in life but she knew what to do with it, what features to accentuate, how to carry herself.

However, there was a certain…  _tension_  between them, one that made him painfully aware of the endgame here. He couldn't tell if he was the only one picking up on it. When he'd been with Ehana yesterday and the day before, he had also felt tension. But it was exciting – and at the same time oddly comfortable. Walking with Hisako was neither of these things.

As it was, despite her casual elegance and alluringly husky voice, it was hard to get to know the girl very well. The most she had to offer was polite small talk and airy chuckles at his feeble attempts at humor. Not exactly a spirited conversationalist, as apparently it was his job to talk and hers to demurely agree. Maybe offer a saucy comment he didn't know what to do with.

Honestly, he was terrible at this.

If she sensed the awkwardness as well, she didn't show it. She merely smiled and kept by his side, basking in his company. Or the attention of the onlookers. Because he was the prince, and she walked like she knew she was born to be queen. Going by the way her smile did not reach her eyes, that was almost certainly what this was.

But at least it would be a marriage of his choice.

He'd be a fool to expect anything more at the beginning, anyway. For now he had a few days to break the ice. An attendant, possibly sensing his floundering, handed him a silver tray filled with chocolate-covered squares and nodded to Hisako. Ayato took the hint and turned to present it to her.

"Here," he said, trying to sound like his usual confident self. "You've never tasted anything like this before."

At first Hisako seemed like she was going to reach for one, then there was a small cough and she looked questioningly at the baroness. Recovering with a smile, she closed her eyes and opened her mouth.

Ayato nearly recoiled with displeasure, shooting a bemused glimpse at Hinata who was of course grinning and waggling his eyebrows, like:  _What are you waiting for? Feed the lady!_

Hesitantly, he took a small square from the tray and passed it through her lips. She sighed in bliss, chewing and savoring. Yui eagerly tried to help herself as well but the baroness snatched her hand in mid-air.

"Don't even think about it," she muttered under her breath. Yui whined sadly and backed off, throwing longing looks at the tray.

Meanwhile, her elder sister was still relishing in the taste. Ayato furrowed his eyebrows as he watched her. How long did it take to eat a wafer the size of his thumbnail?

"Do you… like it?" he asked after a moment.

"Like it?" Hisako echoed, swallowing. "It's positively  _sinful._ What is it?"

He felt himself relax as they started walking again. "KeyKats," he said, handing the tray back to his attendant (Hinata quickly intercepted). "The Tobans keep sending bricks of it..."

And for a minute or so, Hisako listened politely while he blathered on about their variety of flavors to kill the silence. Then as they rounded a corner and weaved through a few produce stands, her eyes lit up for the first time that afternoon.

"These are our servants, Your Highness," she said to him, gesturing ahead with a smile.

"Really?" he asked, utterly relieved at the change of subject. "I'd love to meet them."

She escorted him towards the center booth, where a young woman with chin-length magenta hair was packing corn into canisters while she hummed a pretty tune. Her eyes lifted and caught Hisako's at first, but grew large at the sight of the prince. Her hum dying in her throat, she sharply elbowed the middle-aged navy-haired woman shucking corn next to her until she glanced up as well. The same ruby eyes widened in shock.

He wasn't too offended by their reaction; it seemed he had that kind of effect on her family's servants. At least they weren't reaching for the apples just yet.

"Good day, ladies," Ayato said carefully, attempting to put them at ease with a disarming smile.

A lot of good it did him. He'd barely taken another step before pandemonium ensued. There was a gasp and a flash of magenta hair, and then feathers and corn went flying everywhere as a chicken catapulted into his face in a hurricane of flaps and indignant squawks. Ayato yelped and stumbled backwards into Hinata and Hisako trying to shield his face from claws and corn cobs.

"What are you doing?" the baroness exploded, hastening to the scene. "Trying to scare the prince to death?!"

Hinata and the guards managed to steady Ayato, who pulled himself together and stared at the two grey-clad servants in a lingering state of bewilderment.

"We were just startled, is all," the younger one said, blushing rosier than her hair.

Ayato blinked a few times and then squinted suspiciously. If he was truly so frightening, it seemed to him a  _bit_  of a delayed reaction. And then… come to think of it, he could've sworn the servant he'd seen out of the corner of his eye was wearing blue, and had hair a darker shade of magenta.

Maybe it was the lighting, but…

He stepped forward, still brushing a few seeds and dirt off his coat, and silently counted them. His head was still spinning but that was supposed to make him see more people, not less.

"Were there just the two of you?" he asked, brow furrowing slightly.

The elder of the two gave a solemn nod. "And the chicken, Your Highness," she added as an afterthought.

Ayato closed his eyes and rubbed at his temple, loosening a feather from his hair. He wouldn't press the matter; Hisako looked mortified enough as it was. Meanwhile Yui, who had somehow gotten her share of KeyKats, was discreetly licking chocolate from her fingers while she watched this play out.

He wasn't interested in making a scene, so he elected to graciously dismiss it as a mutual scare and move on. Whatever it took to end the tense staring match between Hisako and Masami (as the baroness so shrilly addressed her).

But he did wonder, as they continued their trek through the marketplace, if it was the apple girl he had seen for a flicker of an instant. If she'd taken one look at him and fled in terror – a reasonable response in itself. Then again, it could also be as simple as him losing his mind.

Which, as of these past few days, was slightly more plausible.

* * *

A mild evening settled on the Nakamura estate, in temperature and in energy. The Fukudas had returned home in excellent spirits, and much to the relief of Yuri's conscience, there was no physical reprimand towards the Iwasawas for the incident at the marketplace. According to the baroness, the rest of the afternoon had gone swimmingly with the prince, and the incident had only made her darling daughter shine brighter as it had given them something to chuckle about.

Sure enough, Hisako saw the humor in the situation, and she'd been teasing Masami for almost two hours now. The entire day had put her in a dreadfully perfect mood.

"Is that your idea of self-defense, songbird?" the girl said gleefully, shadowing the younger Iwasawa around the dinner table with a spring in her step. "Throwing chickens at the  _prince_?"

Yuri spared Masami one last sheepish grin as she headed to the stairs with an armful of firewood. The grin grew wider as she distinctly heard Masami mutter out of the corner of her mouth, "Well, perhaps I wondered if His Highness was interested in kissing something fowl…"

Hisako uttered an outraged gasp. "What did you say?"

There was a musical laugh and some innocent humming, and then quick scampering sounds headed in the direction of the kitchens.

"Come back here! Hey songbird, I'm talking to you!"

Positive that Masami could hold her own for now, Yuri managed to swallow her smile as she climbed the steps to her stepmother's bedchambers. It wasn't hard when her thoughts drifted to the incident in question. Today had been an extremely close call. Her heart had pounded for eons after she collapsed behind a corner and waited for the prince to leave.

She knew she'd said he and Hisako deserved each other, but she… she never thought he'd actually…

Shaking her head, she took a deep breath and rapped her knuckles tentatively on the wood of Hinami's door.

"Enter!" Hinami's voice called out with a merry trill.

Yuri balanced the wood in one arm and pushed the door open, then gave the woman a polite nod on her way to the fireplace. "Evening, stepmother."

"A very good evening it is." Hinami sighed in happiness. She was lounging on her bed with her long brown curls free from its headdress, awaiting their nightly brushing. "Oh, what a  _day!_  You should have seen them, Yuri. Anyone with eyes could tell it was a smart match. And poor Ayato didn't know what hit him… I dare say Hisako had him eating out of the palm of her hand."

By the sounds of it Hinami was talking just at the concept of an audience, so Yuri quietly let her ramble as she set the wood on the fire. Behind her, Hinami fell back against the bed with another joyous sigh like a child whose shooting star wish had finally been granted.

"We must press for a quick engagement!" Her hair blanketed the edge of the bed, and candied eyes began to shine. "Shibuya at Christmas. Can you imagine?"

_Was that a real question?_  Yuri turned around more fully and forced a smile on her face.

Hinami's expression lost its glow as she also realized who she was talking to.

"No," she conceded, releasing a slow breath. "No, of course you can't."

Her own smile fading, Yuri rubbed awkwardly at her arms. The extra logs did nothing for the added chill in the air.

Hinami pushed herself off the bed with a sigh.

"My mother was hard on me too, you know," she said, gliding gracefully over to her vanity chair and sitting down. Motioning to the brush, she splayed out her hair and closed her eyes. "She taught me that cleanliness was next to godliness. She forced me to wash my face at least twenty times a day…" she paused for a reminiscent laugh, "and yet, it was never clean enough."

Wiping her soot-covered hands off on her apron, Yuri took the brush and silently set to work. But as she brushed, she did listen. Hinami had never spoken of her own mother before. It was hard to think of the woman as a child, let alone a daughter.

"But I was very grateful to her. She wanted me to be all that I could be." Her voice grew quiet as she gazed thoughtfully into the crackling fire. "And here I am, a baroness. And Hisako shall be Ayato's queen." She closed her eyes in silent pride. "There's no man better for her."

_Such confidence…_

Yuri began brushing more vigorously, only for Hinami's hand to take her wrist in mid-swipe. She guided Yuri around to face her, then gently brought her to kneel so that she was at eye level.

Stunned, Yuri couldn't look away. Her stepmother's eyes had always matched Yui's in color, but this was the first time they'd been as gentle.

"Pity you never knew your mother," Hinami said softly. "There must be so much of her in you. Inside and out."

Yuri blinked, a lump forming in her throat at the baroness's unexpected sentiment. What did Hinami know of her mother? She herself barely knew the woman, though she dared to use her name. It was enough to blanket Yuri's grief in a layer of guilt.

"I wish I remembered what she was like." Her voice cracked.

"Yes. But we must never feel sorry for ourselves, must we?" Hinami said, raising a prim eyebrow. "No matter how bad things get, they can always get worse."

"Yes, ma'am." Yuri averted her gaze, starting to mentally berate herself for falling for that. But then Hinami took her chin in her fingers and turned it back to her, studying her face some more.

"But your father..." Hinami softened again. Maybe it was a trick of the firelight, but Yuri might've sworn she saw the woman's lip quiver slightly. "Sometimes, I can almost see him looking out through your eyes."

Emotion prickled in Yuri's chest, the warmth traveling to her cheeks as her face broke into a smile.

"Really?" she whispered. She couldn't remember the last time Hinami even spoke of her father, let alone so affectionately.

"Yes, well…" The woman's voice wavered as she ran a finger along Yuri's cheek. "Your features are so sharp, and… masculine. And, well, to be raised by a man…" Retracting her touch, she clapped Yuri on the shoulder. "No wonder you're built for hard labor."

She stiffened at her touch, searching her stepmother's face for traces of what might've been there.

"Did you love my father?" Yuri asked quietly. Hinami bit her lip.

"I barely knew him," she replied, and gave a wave of her hand as she looked back at the fireplace. Her eyes grew distant again. "Now go away. I'm tired."

Nodding in resignation, Yuri bowed goodnight and numbly showed herself out.

_So that's that, then…_

The prince would marry Hisako (which was sensible, really), the baroness's dreams would come true, and Kaishou Nakamura and everything about him would be nothing but a ghost to her. As it always had been. The manor could go to Yuri, where at least she could keep him alive in the pages of her books and the toil of his fields. And all would be as it should be.

Yuri sat down at the hearth with a sigh, scratching Mamoru behind the ears. Feelings never solved anything, anyway.

It would simply have to do.


	8. The Prince Comes To Visit

"Are you seeing this? Otonashi, you're not looking!"

It was morning, and the Fukudas had left for church half an hour ago, so Yuri had ventured out into the hayfield to amuse herself with none other than Kanade Tachibana's butterfly craft. Matsushita the Fifth had found it tangled in a tree at dawn and promptly given it to her because he thought she'd want to uncover its secrets. Ah, he knew her so well.

Then she'd discovered Otonashi painting the castle in the distance and thought it'd be doubly entertaining to bug him while he worked. He had one of Tachibana's creations fluttering above his head and he didn't even  _know_ it.

She giggled fiendishly, glanced down at the handle connected to the spool, and pressed the button marked "delay."

"I don't know what you're so happy about," he said, back turned to her and completely missing the way it seemed to teleport sideways in a more gossamer form. "You'll be swimming in manure if they get married."

"Hm,  _really_  couldn't care less!" Yuri called back, blithely running along with the spool.

"Are you serious?" Peeking over his shoulder, Otonashi scrunched up his face in a disbelieving laugh. "The prince would be your brother-in-law, and you,  _Countess Sakurai_ , would be bringing them breakfast in bed!"

Yuri sent her eyes heavenward and watched the fluttering wings sail on the air. Word traveled fast in the kingdom of Maeda. So he was "too busy to play," but not too busy to spread royal gossip?

"But after they move into the palace, the manor's all mine!" she explained impatiently, twirling with the craft. "I can finally turn things around. That's all that matters."

She'd been thinking about it a lot since last night and it was the only thing that made sense. No more Fukudas, no more needless spending. Just restoring the Nakamura household to its former glory. Happy ending for everyone involved, right?

Right.

Behind her, Otonashi was doing that dumb all-knowing chuckle he always used on Hatsune. "I still think you like him," he teased.

"Nope!" Yuri grinned and pressed another button. The wings changed from a light blue to a translucent moonlike silver.

She heard a couple of his paintbrushes tumble into the grass. Was he done already, or had he finally noticed what this butterfly thing could do? Whatever. It was her turn right now and she was having fun.

"So, uh…" He was stuttering at this point, sounding rightfully stunned. "So if you saw him again, you'd simply—"

"I'd walk right up to him and say, 'Your Highness, my family is your family,'" she said exuberantly, and closed her eyes in contentment as she let the craft do the guiding. "' _Please_ , take them away.'"

"Good," said Otonashi. "Here's your big chance, he's headed this way."

Her eyes popped back open.  _What?!_

She spun around in sheer panic, and sure the hell enough, Prince Ayato and the captain of his guard were charging across the field on horseback.  _Shit!_ He'd timed that perfectly, hadn't he…

And not far enough away for an escape into the forest. Screaming internally, Yuri growled and leapt behind the nearest haystack.

Meanwhile, Otonashi rose from his easel and gave a humble bow as the prince and the captain rode up to him. Hinata – that was his name. Hatsune used to have the biggest crush on him (Otonashi still teased her about it whenever he rode past).

"I'm looking for Kanade Tachibana, we're to visit the Tenjin shrine together. Have you seen her?" Prince Ayato asked, narrowed eyes searching the field.

"T-Tachibana?!" Otonashi almost lost his footing over his fallen paintbrushes. "Uh, no, Your Highness…"

The prince heaved a chagrined sigh, blowing green bangs out of his face. "But that's one of her Angel projects just there," he said, pointing. "Where did you get it?"

Otonashi followed his finger to the haystack, where the telltale butterfly was hovering over Yuri's hiding spot. The spool quickly released itself into the air and soared away with its wings. Hinata and Otonashi watched it go, the latter staring after it with a deadpan expression before his gaze fell accusingly to the hay. Yuri had one of  _Kanade Tachibana's_ own creations and she didn't say a word?!

This called for prompt retribution.

"From… the Countess Sakurai," Otonashi answered. "She's a friend of hers,  _apparently_."

The haystack squeaked in dismay. Hinata piqued an eyebrow as he stared at it some more. But Prince Ayato's gaze was now trained intensely on Otonashi.

"You know her?" He turned his horse to face him, hope and intrigue alight in his face. "Please, I have to find her. Where is she staying?"

"I believe, Your Highness," said Otonashi, giving another bow before flashing an innocent smile, "that she is staying with a cousin. The… Baroness Hinami Fukuda."

The haystack raged again. But it was just the wind, of  _course_.

Prince Ayato sucked in his cheeks, no doubt making a few uncomfortable connections. "I see. That does present a problem."

"But! I do know that she is there," he stressed. "Alone. By herself. At this very moment."

The prince's eyes lit up once again, a broad grin traveling across his lips. "Thank you very much, uh…"

"Yuzuru Otonashi, Your Highness," Hinata and Otonashi said in unison, and the latter glanced at him in mild surprise.

"Otonashi. You've been a great help," Prince Ayato said brightly. Rearing his horse to go, he caught sight of the easel and acknowledged it with a nod. "Nice painting, by the way!"

Otonashi preened a bit, standing straighter and shielding his eyes from the sun as he watched the two ride off in the direction they had come.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Yuri snarled and flung herself out from behind her hiding spot.

"You moron!" she wailed, storming across the field. "What the hell were you thinking?!"

"Did you hear that?" Otonashi said absently while fixing his paintbrush set, a smug smile on his face. "He likes my work."

"And  _he_  is heading towards my house!"

His dumb boyish grin grew even wider. Ever so pleased with himself, he turned to her and leaned in with mischief dancing in his eyes. "Then I suggest you run."

Yuri's glare faltered. She bit her lip and gave him a halfhearted shove; he just laughed and shoved her back in the proper direction.

And then she started running.

"Stupid!" she yelled over her shoulder. Otonashi saluted with a paintbrush as she disappeared into the forest.

Leaping over a low fence, Yuri darted through the woods and tore down the quickest trail that would lead her to the manor. Vaulting as many fallen branches, logs, and roots as possible in her wake. Thank goodness she knew this land better than she knew the pages of  _Utopia._  The trees opened up into the gardens and she pushed her legs even harder until she was lunging through the door, heart thudding heavy as hooves on pavement.

"Masami!" She staggered up the stairs, nearly out of breath. "Shiina! QUICK!"

It was like the women knew instantly that they had mere minutes. Masami found one of Hisako's dresses faster than Yuri could refill her lungs while Shiina fetched shoes to match and they descended on her right there on the second staircase. Masami had barely gotten Yuri's arms through the sleeves when Shiina's keen hearing picked up the sound of hoofbeats. She checked out the window and gave the girl an eager push.

"Go! Go!"

Yuri rushed down the steps and just about crashed through the front door – thankfully stopping in time to greet the man on her doorstep.

"Your Highness. What an unexpected surprise."

"Countess…" The prince stared at her, dumbfounded. She smoothed the skirts of her pale blue gown and prayed there was no sweat glistening on her forehead. Then again, maybe it was the jeweled headband he was admiring. "Do you not attend church?"

Yuri bowed her head in an attempt to disguise her panic as humility. "I… find that my faith is better served away from rabid crowds."

"Right. My father's newfound interest has created quite the phenomenon," he said with an understanding roll of his eyes, and Yuri smiled sympathetically. He was probably much more often exposed to the king's rambles of "I am the clay and God is the potter" or whatever the man was always on about. "Which is why I'm on my way to the temple instead."

Over his shoulder, Yuri spotted the captain of the guard on horseback leading a carriage through the gate. The prince turned his gaze as well, then back to Yuri with an emboldened grin.

"Our Tenjin shrine's library is most impressive," he added, leaning forward and looking terribly hopeful. "Since you're so fond of reading, I thought… perhaps, you might join me?"

Yuri sighed. There went the rest of her resolve.

"It's not fair, sire," she said with a begrudging smile. "You've found my weakness but I have yet to learn yours."

"I should think it would be quite obvious," the prince scoffed. Then his eyes widened and embarrassment seared his cheeks, as if he hadn't consciously meant to say it. And that was when the meaning of his words truly sank in.

Yuri cut her gaze to the side, fighting a groan as her heart fluttered in her chest. Just when everything was finally starting to make sense, Prince Charming had to ride in and say something like that.

_Otonashi, I really will kill you for this..._

"Captain Hinata," he said to his guard, breaking the silence that had ensued. "I won't be needing my horse, or your services."

Hinata nodded seriously, the corner of his mouth twitching in amusement. Satisfied, the prince turned back to Yuri and presented his hand to her.

"Today I am simply… Ayato."

Tentatively, Yuri placed her hand in his, and felt a shiver when his thumb grazed her knuckles. Molten gold eyes gleamed with purpose. He guided her out into the world, smirking all the while, and she let her own smile creep onto her lips as she surrendered.

Who was she kidding? Her heart was already in the carriage.

* * *

The bells were just beginning to toll as the Fukuda's carriage pulled up to the church. Matsushita the Fifth stood tall at the door and patiently helped the ladies pile out, grinning as Yui deliberately sprang from the carriage instead of using the footplate when her mother and sister weren't looking. She looked back at him proudly and he pretended to be all business, but snuck her a thumbs up.

She was glad to have him back. Masami's nighttime rooftop melodies had gotten so sad without him.

(Oh yes, she knew. She liked to quietly listen when she was awake for them.)

The family hadn't taken but a few steps from the carriage when the page boy Takeyama emerged from the building and approached them at a brisk trot.

"Regretfully, Baroness, Prince Ayato left early this morning and has not been heard from since. But!" He raised a finger to silence her, glasses glinting brilliantly as he reached into his bag. "I have something that will brighten up your day."

He handed her something carefully folded in a fine embroidered cloth, then murmured its contents in her ear. Yui struggled to eavesdrop while Hisako looked around in a dreadful boredom.

Hinami slowly withdrew, her pursed lips now coiling into pure elation. "You vicious, vicious man…"

"Call me Chr—"

"Shh, not another word." Her finger, once stroking his cheek with adoration, pressed against his own smirking lips. "Mustn't spoil the moment."

She hid the gift in a safe place, blew him a kiss, and led her girls into the church as she considered her next move. Dear Takeyama had pulled through as always. But this hand she'd been dealt with was as dangerous as it was blessed, and timing was everything.

* * *

Shrouded in the mist of the mountains, the Tenjin shrine seemed suspended in an entirely different world. The prince – or  _Ayato,_  as he preferred – had not been wrong about its library, but "impressive" didn't do it justice. From the moment Yuri stepped foot in the building, goosebumps swept over her skin as her senses drank in its magic. It smelled of worn pages and ancient secrets, but she felt like the ghost as her footsteps echoed on the wooden stairwells. All the walls were lined with packed shelves and dusty tomes. A glance over the railing during their descent showed that this would continue for many levels onward.

"Wow…" Yuri breathed, gingerly trailing her fingertips along the spines. "It makes me want to cry."

"Pick one," said Ayato, who was still descending the last staircase with a knowing smirk.

She peered wide-eyed over her shoulder at him, then grinned through an incredulous scoff. "Why don't you just ask me to pick a favorite star in the heavens?"

He joined her at the shelf, leaning against the railing and shaking his head while he studied her intensely. "What is it with you and books?" he asked, a curious chuckle escaping his lips. "I swear, you greet them like old friends."

Yuri chewed her lip as she let her thoughts carry her down another flight of stairs. During the carriage ride here, he'd been very curious about her connection to the Fukudas, and she had rambled about literature to change the subject.

Old friends… It  _was_  sort of like that.

"I guess it's because when I was young, my father used to stay up late and read to me," she said, closing her eyes and feeling along the shelves. With the smell of books and mahogany in the air, she could even see his face in the back of her mind, awash in firelight as he exaggerated his features to dramatize all the right parts. She laughed to herself. "He was such a bookworm. I'd fall asleep listening to the sound of his voice."

"What sort of books did he read?" Ayato asked, a fair trace of intrigue in his tone.

"Oh, everything, really." Yuri draped herself over the balcony railing with a nostalgic sigh. "From fantasy and supernatural, to science and philosophy. We were building our own private library for a while, so I suppose being here reminds me of him. He died when I was eight.  _Utopia_ was the last book he brought home."

Ayato grinned at her, though his eyes were soft. "Explains why you quote it," he said knowingly.

Yuri stared down into the depths, watching scholars drift in and out of the room while others sat at desks studying a book's contents intently. Crisp pages turned. Footsteps kissed cold stone. Elsewhere, a fountain sang its steady trickle. And Yuri wondered if this was what it would've been like on her father's journeys, where he should have been that week he was taken. Where he could be now, if God hadn't been so cruel. She could just see a flicker of his form, mulling over the bookcases below for the perfect gift to bring back home.

"I'd rather hear his voice again than any sound in the world," she murmured.

She could sense Ayato's eyes on her after that, but when she chanced a look in her peripheral vision, he'd dropped his gaze to the scholars below. A slow frown took over his face, his shoulders tensed and his brows drawn together as if agitated by a thought. Then he silently turned away, his heavy footsteps filling the library with a melancholy echo.

"Something wrong?" Yuri asked, following him to the staircase. She hadn't meant to depress him or anything…

At the bottom of the stairs, he stopped and looked up at her.

"In all my years of study, not one tutor ever demonstrated the passion you've shown me in the past two days," Ayato said quietly, the wistful expression on his face gradually shifting to shame. "You have more conviction in one memory that I have in my entire existence."

Yuri gripped the handrail, taken aback. "That's not true..."

"It is!" He gave a bitter, feeble excuse for a laugh. "Not even with my brother… did I…"

He trailed off then, shaking his head at himself. With an agitated sigh, he turned his back on her and continued down the stairwell.

_His brother…_ Yuri's eyes widened in realization. It was a hushed piece of the kingdom's history that one prince had died at play. Word had it that the king actively discouraged any mention of the topic. So easy to forget that the prince had lost family too.

Flushed with nervous empathy, she hastened down the steps in a careful glide until she'd trailed him to the bottom floor.

"Your Highness," she said tentatively, "if there's anything I've said or done—"

Ayato spun around quickly, raising both hands to halt her.

"Please, don't," he managed through his teeth. His eyes lifted to meet hers, and softened. "It's not you."

Yuri nodded and joined him at the foot of the staircase. Her mind was still reeling as she regarded him a bit more curiously.

_Forget me,_ she thought to herself, wondering.  _Who are you?_

* * *

Amidst the sea of chattering worshippers now exiting the church, Hinami shepherded her daughters out of the way on the front steps as she located her prey. The king and queen were already seated in their carriage, which still stood idle while the latter spoke to her ladies-in-waiting. And the flow of courtiers had just reached a lull. This was their chance. She squeezed her elder daughter's shoulders for luck.

"Make haste, Hisako," she hissed in her ear, and discreetly pressed their cloth-wrapped secret weapon into her palm. "It's now or never."

Nodding, Hisako hurried down the steps, and, as soon as she'd beaten the crowd, took a deep breath and gracefully approached the royal carriage. All the while curiously unravelling the small bundle. Inside was a gorgeous ruby pendant framed with gold and pearls – literally breathtaking. She almost faltered when she saw it, but pushed on though her insides gnawed at her. Best not to think about how her mother's pet acquired such a thing; to hesitate was to incriminate.

She was already in way over her head here...

"Forgive me, Your Majesty," Hisako said, curtsying low, and presented the golden necklace to the queen. "You seem to have dropped this on your way out."

Queen Ayame uttered a soft gasp as she cradled the jewelry piece in gloved hands.

"Goodness, I don't even remember putting it on! Thank you, child!" She beamed at her in gentle admiration, touching King Kimito's arm with her free hand and sharing her awe with the rest of the carriage. "What a pure heart you have, to return such a valuable keepsake."

"A rare person, indeed," the king mused, and a rosy-haired lady-in-waiting gave her a wondering smile. Hisako felt her face flush a similar color.

"You are too magnanimous, Majesty," she said, curtsying again as she humbly backed away.

The queen shared a look with the king, then leaned forward to whisper to one of her ladies-in-waiting. "Her name?"

"Hisako Fukuda."

"Hisako," Queen Ayame called, waving to her and stopping the girl in her tracks. Hisako, who'd been glancing towards Hinami for approval, turned back around and blinked innocently. "We shall have a chat tomorrow, you and I." She gestured over her shoulder with a smile. "Bring your mother."

Nodding, Hisako respectfully lowered her eyes. "As you wish."

Bidding her good day, she kept her cool and met her mother and sister at the end of the steps. Her heart was pounding erratically in her chest. After taunting Masami for throwing a chicken in the prince's face yesterday, now she was lying straight to the queen's?

And it was  _working._

Hinami happily took her into her arms and held her tight. "You did wonderfully, my darling," she breathed. "A mother's approval is everything. Just you wait and see."

Swallowing hard, Hisako bit her lip and leaned into the embrace, the empty cloth clutched in her fist. Royalty was finally within her reach, so close that she could almost taste it.

It tasted not of gold, but copper.


	9. The Guildsmen

"Well," said Ayato, rubbing his head and dejectedly circling his overturned wheel. "This is terribly embarrassing."

Yuri bit back a snicker as one of the attendants helped her to the ground. They'd been riding for all of fifteen minutes before a horrible jolt shook the carriage and suddenly his body was thrown against hers and everything was askew. Turned out a bump in the road had cost them a wheel. The lopsided, rusted and dusted vehicle was such a sad sight that he'd lost his steamy blush in favor of a resigned grimace.

And although both were admittedly cute on him, the situation did kill her laughter once she joined him at his side. This was no time or place to be stranded.

"We'll head back to the shrine at once, Your Highness," said the driver. "See what can be done."

_Damn_ , Yuri thought, watching the other attendants follow after him in the direction they had come. They were supposed to just stay here in the forest and wait around for repairs? Who the hell knew how long that was going to take? Not only for them to get there and back, but also fix the wheel and get things going again.

She'd given up on getting home before the Fukudas returned from church, but if she wasn't back by dinner they were going to start talking.

"Then we'll just continue on foot," she decided – and with a flourish of her gown, she turned and headed up the trail.

"What?" Ayato laughed, sounding a bit dumbfounded behind her. "It's half a day's walk!"

Yuri sent him a chiding grin over her shoulder. "Come  _on_ , Your Highness, where's your sense of adventure?"

There was a long pause, then an indignant snort followed by a steady clomp of riding boots against dirt as he strode briskly to catch up with her. "Well! I suppose if you put it that way…"

And they were off, side by side, the glimmers of fading daylight shining just above their heads.

* * *

As Matsushita guided the Fukuda's carriage through the gate and pulled up to the manor, little Yui was still pouting inside. For the entire ride home all her mother and sister could talk about was today's royal success and what steps Hisako could take tomorrow to get further in the queen's good graces. Hinami was terribly excited, even more so than Hisako and her cool pleasure, and had not stopped raving since they'd left the church.

And although Yui hated their most recent trickery (that page boy was  _stealing_ for them now?), now Hisako was getting praised by both their mother and the queen! Meeting Her Majesty face to face!

It was so unfair. Parents shouldn't have favorite children! But her mother had grown more and more obvious about it as the years went by. Just because Hisako was an early bloomer who knew how to be cool and coy and mysterious, Yui knew that in comparison she would be forever seen as the baby of the family. Immature and rambunctious.

But so what? Hisako could be loud too! She also used to like playing games and sports rather than just watching them. Apparently, though, it was easier for her to give them up than it was for Yui.

"It's called discipline, pipsqueak," Hisako had said once when she complained about it. "Grow up. You can't always do whatever you want."

Which to this day made Yui suppress a scoff. Of course  _she_ would say that.

"—but we can't be too confident, darlings!" Hinami chided as she stepped gracefully out of the carriage. "The prince wasn't at worship today. We need to know why."

"Hisako gets to do  _everything_ ," Yui scowled, launching herself onto the dirt with a petulant hop.

"Don't be a child, Yui," said Hisako, who was still preening as she swept past her little sister. "The queen doesn't even know you exist."

Although Masami and Shiina were waiting at the open door, Hinami stopped in her tracks and turned to her girls.

"What Hisako does is for all of us," she said importantly, leaning forward and laying a hand on Yui's shoulder. "We are counting on you to help her get ready. Come now, my dear, we'll need your help finding her a proper gown for tomorrow's meeting with her future mother-in-law!"

Behind the baroness, Masami had the nerve to cast Hisako a surprised glance. Hisako actually looked thrown off for a second, but glared defiantly back at her. The telltale rosiness in her cheeks made Yui grin despite herself. While her big sister was exceptionally cool and composed around boys, Masami's subtle sauciness was the only thing that ever made Hisako blush.

And yet she hardly ever got in big trouble for it. Yui suspected it was because Hisako liked to keep her around for her own amusement. A little plaything who could help her get dressed when she didn't feel like doing it herself.

Yui's smile abruptly vanished. Well, boy, didn't that sound familiar? They might as well dress  _her_  in rags right now!

"Great," she spat. "Next thing I know, you'll have me cleaning the fireplace with Yuri!" She picked up the skirts of her gown and stomped through the doorway, growling under her breath.

Behind her, Hinami wrinkled her nose and glanced all around. "Where is that girl?"

Hisako gave an impassive shrug. "Probably out catching rabbits with her teeth," she said, and tossed her hair over her shoulder as she began to follow Yui inside.

Hinami chortled appreciatively, and was about to go in after her daughters when Masami stopped her. The young woman's eyes, previously lowered, had lifted in bemusement after Hisako's hair-flip caught her in the face. But she looked no less nervous now.

"Excuse me, Fukuda-san," said Masami, biting her lip, "but that gilded mirror in your bedchamber – did you move it?"

"Of course not. Why?"

She winced. "It's… also missing, my lady."

"Then it's  _also_  coming out of your pay," Hinami said dryly. She sniffed at Masami and Shiina in disdain, then spun on her heel and disappeared into the house.

Shiina checked to make sure she was gone, then rolled her eyes. "This is so stupid."

Masami offered her mother a sheepish smile as they closed the door. "Guess I shouldn't tell her about the tapestries."

* * *

Elsewhere, deep in the forest, an aggravated Prince Ayato was pacing beneath a canopy of trees. He stopped and toed awkwardly at the dirt, taking care to avoid the discarded light blue dress that lay in a heap before him.

"Unbelievable," he muttered, embarrassed, and started to pace again. "I've visited the Tenjin shrine about a million times. You'd think by now I'd know the way back to my own castle!"

Yuri peered down at him through the branches. Though she had an incredible view from the top of this cliff, his sulking was kind of cute.

"It wouldn't kill you to learn how to stop for directions," she teased. It'd taken the poor prince a good twenty minutes to swallow his pride and admit that they were lost. Now the sun was going down, but there was thankfully enough daylight for a thorough scan of the countryside. Rolling hills, greenery, and… "Yep, there it is! It's back that way!"

"And I still can't believe I'm down here while you're up there!" Ayato fumed, turning in circles as he nervously searched the treetops. "It's dangerous, Ehana!"

"Re _lax_. I wasn't about to let you break your royal neck."

She'd seen the hesitance in his eyes as they scaled the rock face. Granted, he'd immediately put on a determined face after that, but by then she was already taking off her shoes and telling him to turn around. After that, he'd been too flustered by her shimmying out of her sleeves to protest.

It was nothing personal, really. She was just objectively the better tree-climber, as she doubted His Highness had been permitted to climb many trees or cliffs since the loss of his brother.

Ayato looked up at her, shielding his eyes from the sun. "But really… did it have to be in your undergarments?"

"I couldn't climb up here in that dress!" Yuri retorted, feeling her face grow hot.  _Hisako's_  dress _._  She could've ripped it, and then the Iwasawas would have to sew it for her, and if Hisako hadn't already noticed it was gone she would sure as hell notice something like that.

Yuri had already gotten them in near enough trouble as it was. She really had to get moving.

Below her came a rich snort.

"So you swim alone, climb rocks, rescue servants…" He harrumphed, but there was a distinct trace of awed amusement in his tone. "Is there anything you don't do?"

It was then that a soft breeze rustled the foliage, and for a moment Yuri felt like a bird, soaring over the horizon with the wind under her wings…. Hm, no, that was a bit too free. Maybe she was the butterfly craft that she'd guided through the sky today, allowing herself just for one day to forget the attached string that anchored her down.

All the same, she spread her arms wide and felt the gust of wind flow through her fingers.

"Fly," she said, letting a playful grin touch her lips. Then she made a shooing gesture at him as she shifted in the branches and attempted to find her footing on the cliff's crevices. "Now turn around so I can climb back down."

Chuckling, Ayato obediently turned his back to the cliff – and for all his gentlemanly efforts, what awaited him was a sharp right hook to the nose that sent the prince sprawling into the dirt.

Hearing swords unsheathe amongst the laughter, Ayato rolled aside and leaped to his feet. The world was reeling, but he irritably brushed the leaves off his coat and steadied himself in a defensive stance. Surrounding him in a circle were the dastardly guildsmen from the Tachibana caravan raid, at least  _fifteen_  of them.

He recognized his attacker instantaneously. Tall and black-haired, sharp black eyes and a devious sneer… this was the one who'd tried to make off with Kanade's painting! Now he carried not a canister but a shirasaya, which he unsheathed with a deep and threatening chuckle.

"You again," Ayato said coldly, and pulled out his own sword and dagger. "Stay where you are, Countess! I have unfinished business to take care of."

Metal clashed against metal; Yuri's grip tightened around a vine as she caught a glimpse of the scene unfolding beneath her. Shit, they really were surrounded! Twelve, fifteen, even twenty of them were down there. Like hell she was staying where she was. What would he have her do, let him fend for himself?

If she could just get ahold of a sword, she'd make it a fair fight. Moving quickly, Yuri scrambled down the vine to a lower branch.

To his credit, Ayato was doing a damn good job warding off his main foe, while the others seemed perfectly content to stand around hollering and heckling from the sidelines. But one grizzly guildsman, large and bearded, crept forward and lifted the abandoned gown by swordpoint.

"My wife thanks you for this fine garment, little lady!" he crowed, waving it in the air.

The man dueling with Ayato looked over his shoulder with a guttural laugh. "Only the finest, eh, Chaa?" he joked, holding his shirasaya horizontal to block a strike.

"You  _will_ give me back my dress, sir!" Yuri threatened, climbing down even faster.

While the shirasaya wielder was distracted, Ayato swung his sword at him. The guildsman deftly stopped a blow to the head in time but now Ayato was on the offense and had the upper hand, each swipe and clang of their swords backing the former into the rock wall. He was doing great until a missed lunge sent him keeling forward as the guildsman dodged him and pivoted. Now  _he_  had  _him_  cornered. The man reeled and then charged at Ayato, who knocked him back with an impressive kick to the stomach.

Yuri slowed in her descent from brush to branch, catching sight of the duel as the two rounded a tree and locked swords. When both blades hit the tree and snagged at the hilt, Ayato abandoned his and punched the guildsman square in the nose. Grunting, the man stumbled backwards, and Ayato tackled him into the leaves.

_He's good,_  Yuri thought, and narrowed her eyes as Chaa broke into guffaws.  _But there's too many, and now he's made himself vulnerable from behind._

Yet the prince wasn't the only one who'd made that mistake. Springing from the tree, Yuri leapt onto Chaa and brought them both crashing to the forest floor. He got a mouthful of leaves and she got the sword that got knocked out of his sheath. She jumped to her feet and was about to strike when a pair of strong arms seized her from behind, while another wrestled the blade from her grip.

"Get your hands off of me!" Yuri snarled, struggling and beating at her captor. She managed one good backwards punch that might've cracked the man's glasses but all that got her was a tighter restraint with one hand and a knife against her throat with the other.

Ayato, who'd been expertly pummeling the shirasaya man into the dirt, looked up and quickly rose to his feet – but laid a boot on the guildsman's chest when he tried to rise as well.

"Let her go!" he growled between panted breaths, narrowing his eyes as he ran a hand through his sweat-slicked hair. "Your quarrel is with me."

Chaa rubbed at his beard, considering, then nodded toward the others. "Takamatsu, release her."

As ordered, Takamatsu loosened his hold, and Yuri shoved him irritably before turning to glower at the assumed guildsman leader.

"Chaa, is it?" She took a step toward him, arms crossed. When he grunted his confirmation and looked vaguely amused at her, she firmly met his eyes behind the dusty bangs. "Listen, Chaa, here's what's going to happen. You're going to return my things at once." Chaa raised his brows, the corners of his mouth twitching as he tilted his head at her. Nonplussed, she added, "And, since you've stolen my escort, I demand a horse as well."

Ayato stared at her, baffled at her gall. She certainly was comfortable giving orders to a band of guildsmen who'd just held her at knifepoint. He looked to the leader, trying to measure his reaction. But Chaa's face simply broke into a grin.

"Milady," he said grandly, gesturing all around them, "you may have anything you can carry."

Yuri pursed her lips. She shared a look with Ayato, who was still trying to catch his breath, then regarded Chaa thoughtfully.

"May I have your word on that, sir?" she asked, keeping her tone even.

Chaa put a hand over his heart. "On my honor as a guildsman. Whatever you can carry."

Satisfied, Yuri gave him a curt nod. She carefully approached as if to take the gown from his hands, then turned sharply and walked straight to Ayato, who wasn't sure what to make of the way she was now sizing him up with her eyes.

"What are you doing…?" he asked in a low voice.

"Just trust me, okay?" She held out her hand to him, eyebrow quirked in amusement. "Do you trust me?"

Although visibly confused, he reached out – and she grabbed his arm instead and draped it behind her neck. Crouching down, she clutched his leg and heaved him over her shoulders, wincing as she adjusted his weight on her back. Damn, this was much easier with water buckets… She lifted him off the ground, briefly locking eyes with Chaa as she offered him a smug curtsy, and marched down the trail in the direction of the palace.

Ayato could only wave sheepishly as the crowd of guildsmen fell into hysterics. Even the man with the shirasaya had sat up and was roaring with laughter, wiping tears from his eyes rather than the blood from his mouth.

Chaa, red-faced and flabbergasted, finally threw his head back with howling guffaws.

"Wait!" he rasped, doubling over and clutching at his sides. "Please — come back! I'll give you a horse!"


	10. Hypnotized

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick disclaimer: The song in this chapter is "Last Song" from Girls Dead Monster!

On the roof of Nakamura manor, Masami strummed her guitar quietly as she gazed out over the estate. She and her mother had finished all their chores, added logs to the fireplaces, brushed the Fukudas' hair, and closed all the windows. Now it was late and everyone had gone to bed.

Well, almost everyone.

"I want to be informed the minute she gets home," the baroness had ordered, standing firm at her post by the window like it was her own royal balcony. "Understood?"

"Yes ma'am," Shiina and Masami chorused.

And she had been thoroughly relieved when Yuri hadn't returned by the time Hinami finally retired to bed, blessedly avoiding any pandemonium from being caught in the dress, but now…

Masami sighed, leaning her head back against the tower. That girl was  _really_  pushing it.

No clatter of horseshoes in the night, no carriage wheels rumbling through the gate. Just cicada screams and rustling leaves. And softly plucked chords.

She hummed and plucked some more, closing her eyes as she breathed in the night. It was okay if Yuri stayed out a little longer, as long as she knew what she was doing. Masami would sneak her in and bail her out if need be. After all, she deserved it. A night of her own to have fun and be with the prince. To have a shot at true love.

Everyone deserved that, no matter who or what they were. For that reason, it thrilled her to think of Yuri winning the heart of the prince.

It made her giddy for other, selfish reasons as well, but… she didn't want to think about that.

Of course, tonight her heart refused to think of anything else.

She muted it through song, and at the same time let it flourish, draping her leg over the ledge and nestling the guitar more comfortably in her lap as she lost herself in the lyrics. Though she knew she had to keep quiet, this was her best therapy. Perched in her special seat, letting the night hear all her pent up feelings as they spilled out through the vibrations of her guitar strings.

" _Ah sukoshi no aida mattekurenai ka?_  
 _Ah dokoka de yobu koe ga suru nda…?"_

The words came to her naturally, while the written lyrics lay hidden in a book under her mattress. Her fingers worked the chords as if they had minds of her own, and she let herself drift in and out as she sang, swinging her feet to her own midnight magic.

"… _.furueteru sorujaa_  
sonna kimi ni mo  
kono kumo o saite  
hikari ga sasu you utatteageru kara  
sabitsuita gen o tatakitsuke…

"… _utsumuita sorujaa_  
sonna kimi ni wa  
furaseyou kokoro no  
daichi ni ame o  
itsu no hi ka kogane no hana o  
sakasete kaze ni yureru yo…

" _hitori ja nemurenai yoru mo aru kedo  
dareka ga ireba sore ni yatsuatari de—"_

Getting too into it, one animated swing of her foot sent her shoe tumbling down the roof shingles and over the eave. She stopped in mid-strum and looked over the edge in dismay, furrowing her forehead. Great. She'd have to go get that in the morning, or whenever Yuri came back. Though she must've disturbed a critter in the bushes because she could've sworn she heard a noise when it fell.

Never mind. She lingered for a moment longer, then chuckled softly at herself and continued to play, this time slower and quieter.

"… _nante nasakenai_  
ikiteru koto ga fukou de  
konna boku nante daremo hitsuyou to shitenai nda  
isso kieteshimae yo…

" _ah sonna no atashi datte onaji sa_  
ah ikiteiku no wa muzukashii na  
ah dakara uta o kiite hoshii nda  
ah kimi dake ni utau uta da kara—"

"Hey, songbird."

Startled, Masami stole a glance behind her just as a visitor was hoisting herself up onto the roof. Long, unbound brown hair curled at the shoulders of her powder-blue nightgown as she swung her legs over the eaves; she really did look different when Hinami wasn't dolling her up for royalty.

"Did I wake you? My apologies, my lady," said Masami, turning back to her post. She aimlessly tickled the strings, letting the cicadas take over for now.

"Don't be ridiculous," Hisako scoffed, taking carefully measured steps over to her. "If I woke up every time you decided to climb up here to howl at the moon, I'd have a decade's worth of bags under my eyes."

"Oh, so I'm a werewolf now."

"Never said you were part human."

Iwasawa stared straight ahead so she wouldn't see her grin. It faded anyway.

"You shouldn't be up here, my lady," she said, turning with her guitar to face the front of the manor. "You'll need your beauty sleep for your meeting with Her Majesty, your future mother-in-law."

"I'll  _need_  my beauty sleep?" came Hisako's indignant voice as she loomed over her. "Are you implying there's a  _deficit_?!"

Masami shrugged. "Well, if the shoe fits…"

"It clearly doesn't."

Confused, she turned to Hisako, who waved her missing shoe in the air with a particularly unimpressed look. Despite herself, Masami gave an incredulous snicker, and Hisako's lips curved into a classic Fukuda smirk.

"If you're going to keep crowing on our roof without Mother's expressed permission," she said, sitting down next to her and handing it over, "it's probably in your best interest not to drop your tattered old peasant slippers on my head."

"Well…" Masami paused as she was putting her shoe back on, and snorted at a thought. "Why were you sticking your head out the window anyway?"

Hisako flushed a brilliant shade of crimson. "I—I wasn't  _sticking my head out_! I was—"

"Hm," Masami said. She strummed thoughtfully at her guitar.

"It was hot in my room, so I was letting in a breeze," Hisako insisted, crossing her arms tightly under her chest and averting her eyes. "Don't get it into your head that I was being your captivated audience. That is all Yui."

Masami smiled to herself. "For your sake, I hope you can fool the queen better than you're fooling me."

A flustered stammer tumbled and died in Hisako's throat. The night went silent for a minute before she spoke again.

"I suppose I understand why you'd want to sit up here." She kicked back on the shingles, putting her arms behind her head in a makeshift pillow. Masami looked over at her in surprise. "It's a decent place to think."

"What do you need to think about?" Masami asked, raising an eyebrow. "Doesn't your mother do all your thinking for you?"

Silver eyes flicked to her with an unusual coolness, and she frowned as a touch of regret nipped at her chest. Hisako was acting almost civil right now – she didn't want to discourage it.

"Sorry about that. It just slipped out."

Hisako snorted. "Ah, yes. Curse that slippery tongue of yours," she said, shifting to make herself comfortable. Then she returned her gaze to the stars. "Honesty like that is rare… even noble in a way. But it can also get you in trouble."

Shrugging, Masami adjusted the strings. "Mm, some things are worth the trouble."

"You're too earnest," Hisako said with a dismissive laugh. "I don't know why I'm talking to you."

"Maybe you just needed someone honest to talk to."

Hisako opened one eye and looked at her, pointedly skeptical. Her lips twisted into a hesitant frown. "About what?"

"Not my place to say, is it?" Masami replied. Moving her guitar safely aside, she leaned back on her palms and offered Hisako a genuine smile. "You know, you're actually kind of tolerable when your mother's not around. So I'm serious this time: what do you need to think about?"

Hisako's features scrunched up mistrustfully at first, then melted into a small sigh.

"Well, if you  _must_ know," she sniffed. "You're very lucky to be a servant. Never having to worry about climbing the social ladder, never wondering what to wear when you meet the queen... Throwing poultry at the prince instead of your  _feminine wiles_." Both girls scoffed in unison; if there was one thing they could agree on, it was that those words sounded creepy coming from Hinami. Hisako continued, "But now… it's really happening. A few weeks from now I could be a princess, living in the palace with a crown on my head. And…" she put a hand to her forehead at the tragedy of it all, "ugh, what  _will_  you do without me?"

"Yuri's already arranging the festivities," Masami told her. Hisako laughed, but then wrinkled her nose in thought.

"Oh, is that where she is?" she muttered. Without waiting for a response, she shook her head and went on. "It's a lot of pressure, you know. When it hits you that you've almost won. I'm sure I won't even know what to do with myself afterwards."

Masami tried not to smirk at her confidence, although it was somewhat endearing. Not that she'd ever tell her that.

"You don't sound very excited," she said matter-of-factly. "Are you sure this is what you want?"

"Huh…?" Sitting up, Hisako blinked, then squinted at her like she was speaking a different language. "That makes no sense whatsoever. What girl wouldn't want to be a princess?"

"I wouldn't," said Masami.

Hisako laughed through her teeth. "Of course not, a servant could never marry a prince. Classic case of fox calling the grapes sour."

"It's nothing like that," Masami said calmly, clasping her hands over her knee. She looked out over the manor, the home she'd known since before she could remember. And then at the grand palace in the far distance, up on the rolling hills. "I'd just rather play my beloved songs, is all. There's nothing a crown could give me that I can't already get from my music. Besides, I don't want to marry a prince just because he's a prince."

"So you would stay here for the remainder of your life? Never try to marry above your station?" she harrumphed, sounding tickled but unsurprised as she cracked a grin. "Oh, songbird, have you no ambition?"

"Weren't you just reminding me I was a servant?" Masami glanced over at her, nonplussed. "Maybe I would, but not for any titles, or comfort, or splendor… I'd choose them because I wanted to spend the rest of my life with them. Because love can transcend all that. That's what I think."

"How quaint," Hisako said coolly. "You've been up here too long, Iwasawa. You've got your head in the clouds."

"Maybe so." With a smile, Masami gazed over the hillside and thought of Yuri, who was still spending these late hours with her prince. The wind picked up and gave her hair a pleasant ruffle. "Still, to blind yourself to true love because of someone's station… it could be the biggest mistake of your life." She turned a more wistful smile towards her quiet roofmate. "Call me naïve, but I believe in following your heart."

A veil of brown fringe fell in front of Hisako's narrowed eyes as she turned her face away.

"You're right," she said softly. When Masami's expression turned to surprise, Hisako continued, "You  _are_ naïve."

Masami's smile faded briefly, then returned with a sympathetic headshake as she brought her focus back to the starry night. Maybe she deserved that for expecting anything more, for daring to ask for a little bit of depth in a moment of genuine civility.

So, so naïve.

"Pretty words, though," Hisako said lightly as she was standing up, and stretched her arms back over her head. "You should save them for the songs you'll write about me when I'm gone."

Masami laughed appreciatively. "I shall have to find myself another muse."

"You won't find anyone else like me." Swinging a leg over the other side of the roof's ridge, Hisako glanced fleetingly over her shoulder with a grin. "That's why I'm going to be queen."

"Whatever you say, my lady," she replied, raising her eyebrows as she returned the grin.

But while the other girl began her descent, Masami began to frown anew. Amidst the twists and turns of the conversation that had transpired, there was one important thing she had to know.

"Hisako," she called, moving to look over the ridge. Hisako turned from her perch on the eave in surprise, possibly since she'd used her first name. "You never answered my question. Is… is this really what you want?"

Hisako stared at her for a long while, pursing her lips thinly as she allowed the cicadas to do the scolding for her.

"That's right. I never answered you," she said slowly. "And I still won't."

And with that, she lowered herself from the roof until the top of her head disappeared from view.

Masami sighed and went back to her spot, leaning against the tower once more as she rested her guitar in her lap. Closing her eyes, she breathed in the night air and quietly let the breeze touch her face.

_That girl…_

Chuckling at herself, she ran her thumb along the chords until she remembered where she'd left off before her charming visitor had interrupted. She hoped that, while Hisako rested her pretty little head, Yuri was having the night of her life. Taking a cleansing breath, Masami began to sing.

" _Demo mou ikanakucha_  
nagai wa dekinai nda  
yakusoku o nokoshite, koko ni kiteru kara  
dakara saigo no uta ni naru yo  
sukoshi demo chikara ni naru to ii na.

" _Daremo ga sorujaa_  
yume miru sorujaa  
soratakaku hoero  
jishin no nasa wa sono mama de ii nda yo  
atashi ga shinjiteageru zutto…

" _Ah youyaku futarikiri ni nareta na  
ah omae no uta mo kikasete kure…"_

* * *

Far beneath the kingdom, a few guildsmen played songs of their own while another intense battle broke out beside the fire. A battle of rock-paper-scissors, that is. And Yuri had to admit, Ayato was a clever and dangerous opponent.

But so was she, and she laughed triumphantly when they tied thrice in a row.

"You're reading my thoughts, my lord," she accused, raising a cup of hot sake to her lips.

"And they're as fuzzy as my own, Countess," he said easily.

"Then Maeda concedes?"

"Never!" Gesturing to her with a curled finger, he leaned in and lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "My next choice…  _will_ be paper."

Yuri grinned mischievously, seeing right through his bluff. If so, surely he'd be thrilled if she chose rock. They both threw down their fists and played again – and she gleefully smashed his scissors. Snickers and peals of laughter echoed through the halls of the Guild.

The Guild – that's what they called this place. It was an underground lair comprised of a series of tunnels, workshops, and depots where they made and stored weapons and other goods. Even as Ayato had courteously helped her down from the ladder, Yuri could hardly believe the place existed. But apparently she'd won the respect of these guys with that little stunt she'd pulled, and once Chaa had finally stopped roaring with laughter and managed to collect himself, he'd insisted that she and Ayato join them for dinner.

Now here they were, in the main base where the guildsmen set up camp, lying on their sides next to a warm fire after a full meal. And to be honest, they were in pretty good company. Chaa was sitting on an overturned crate happily letting his wife model Hisako's dress, which Yuri had – after much thought and sake – traded to him for a jacket and simpler white gown. The hell with it, Hisako had others!

There was also Takamatsu, the former owner of said jacket, who'd stripped off his shirt as well. Yuri thought he'd be cold at first, but this was clearly not the case as he'd been breaking a sweat furiously doing push-ups for the last seven minutes.

Even more animated was a man named Takada – or TK, as he preferred to be called – who never seemed to stop dancing. He wiggled and bobbed and shimmied so passionately one would think the day of the masque had already come. This was widely regarded by the rest of the guildsmen as relatively normal behavior.

And Fujimaki, Ayato's shirasaya-wielding attacker, was currently in great spirits for a guy who'd been bested in a duel twice today. After Yuri had shown interest in the Guild's weapons, Chaa had goaded her into trying out a sword, and Fujimaki had laughingly offered to be her sparring partner. Maybe she should've warned him  _before_  instead of after that her father (and Shiina) gave her lessons.

Then, when she'd spun around after defeating him, she'd met Ayato's blade in mid-air and they'd given the guildsmen quite a show. Leaping onto boxes, matching step for step, circling each other as their eyes locked in a second battle. It must've lasted far longer than it seemed; by the time he'd finally cornered her, their swords and bodies pressed against each other with her back to the wall, they were both out of breath and Yuri's muscles begged for a respite.

"Call it a draw?" she'd breathed, resisting the urge to brush the bangs from his glistening forehead.

Ayato backed away with a victorious smile, promptly sheathing his sword. "As you wish."

And that little match was what eventually led to their game by the fireside, as Ayato's one condition for the draw was that she reveal what else there was to know about the Countess Ehana Sakurai. She'd never told him she had some skill with a sword.

"What else are you hiding from me, I wonder?" he'd intoned.

His eyes were playful, of course, but still Yuri had gnawed at her lip and doused the pang of guilt in her stomach with gulps of sake. Then she'd suggested that they make it interesting. She couldn't be the only one spilling all her secrets.

"Your turn," Yuri said cheerfully, prodding at his wrist after her rock had obliterated his scissors. "And try to make it count. No mundane 'I hate nattō' crap."

"That one was yours," he reminded her.

She waved at him dismissively. "Details!"

"Fine, then." Ayato warmed his hands around his half-empty sake cup, lowering his eyes and staring thoughtfully into its contents for what felt like a full minute. The crackling fire and guildsmen's raucous laughter filled the silence until he finally spoke again. "I have no desire to be king."

The confession nearly caused Yuri to drop her cup. In her bewilderment she had to give him props. Of all the things he could have said, that was the last thing she would've expected from the prince.

"But think of everything you'd have the power to do," she said, brows drawn together in confusion. "For your kingdom. You could change the world."

Ayato shook his head tiredly, setting his cup aside and looking into the fire. "Yes, but it was never meant to be me. It was always supposed to be my father and then my brother." He picked restlessly at the fringe of his blanket. "After he was gone, I had to quietly step into the role. Just like that I was him, what he used to be, and… well, to be so defined by your position? To never be seen as who you are, but what you are? You have no idea how  _insufferable_ that is!"

Though she'd been moved by his rant, Yuri scoffed under her breath at the last part. "You might be surprised…"

"Really?" he asked doubtfully, pouring her more sake.

Yuri blanched.  _Yeah, really. I'm not actually a countess, while we're being honest. Just a commoner who had to become a servant after my father died. Ehana's not even my name, by the way – it's Yuri. Long story. I'm sure you understand!_

Like that was ever going to fly. But she'd started something, and he was regarding her intently, so she did a quick scope of the room.

"Well, take the guildsmen for example," she said, motioning to Fujimaki who was dozing off against a crate while some kids decorated his hair and shirasaya with ribbons. A begrudgingly broad grin conquered Ayato's face at the sight. "They're rarely painted as anything else. Their status defines them as much as your title defines you, but it's not who they are." She gave a drowsy half-salute with her drink before bringing it to her lips. "You've been born to privilege, and with that comes specific obligations."

She finished the thought with a swill of sake, then glanced over the rim of her cup and caught Ayato's confounded stare. It was more than the sake that promptly flushed her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," Yuri managed, echoing his snickers with abashed giggles. "My mouth has run away with me again."

"No, my lady," Ayato said, while the grin that had touched his lips slowly began to fade. "It is your mouth that has me hypnotized."

Boldly his gaze fell, and lingered. Then he looked to her for permission, and their eyes locked in such a way that left her more breathless than their battle. If she was the one with hypnosis, why did staring into his fire-gold eyes like this make her feel so dizzy?

The world was spinning. She could hear her heartbeat – or even his – thudding louder than anything in this room. As he closed the distance between them, her cup fell from her quaking hands and it wasn't a second later that his mouth had found hers. Softly at first, but when he pulled away and her lips deliriously followed, he leaned forward and claimed them again.

Their breaths clashed like swords between kisses, Yuri angling her head to deepen each one. So many she lost count. He pulled her body in closer to his and she tangled her fingers in his hair. Finally melted into the kiss, let herself be. Her eyelids fluttered shut…

And then a boisterous shout broke them apart, followed by cheering and an eruption of laughter. They turned to glare sheepishly at their applauding audience – mainly Chaa, who was leading the entire campsite of guildsmen in approving hoots and hollers. Even Fujimaki in all his ribboned glory put his fingers to his mouth in a sharp wolf whistle.

"Get your little kiss!" TK yelled.

Yuri groaned into her hands but eventually caved to the laughter. God, if she'd ever wondered what it was like to have brothers… Ducking her head away, she looked to Ayato, whose glare had softened while his blush remained, and they shared embarrassed smiles. What absurdly friendly hosts they had tonight.

Could they all see it, written all over her face? It must've been terribly obvious… as painfully clear as it felt in her chest.

_Love,_ she thought, dismal and giddy at the same time. _I'm in…_

_I'm in trouble._

* * *

Though Ayato would've stayed in the Guild like this all night if he could, the countess admitted it was time for her to get back. So they left the comfort of the blankets and fireside, and Chaa sent them off with the horse he'd promised. While the night was still dark, the two rode away into the forest until they'd found her cousin's manor.

"Right here, please," Ehana murmured sleepily in his ear. "I don't want to wake anybody up."

He stopped the horse and dismounted, then turned to help her get down. She slid easily into his arms, which furled around her waist as she held tight to his shoulders. It was all he could do to let her go as he drank her in. Tousled, windblown hair tumbling onto a guildsman's jacket, a glimmer of moonlight in her searching emerald eyes as she offered him a dizzying smile… she truly was a sight.

"You saved my life, you know," he reminded her. "Back there, in the woods."

She looked pleased at the memory. "A girl does what she can, sire."

" _Ayato_."

"Ayato," she repeated, her grin growing rather bashful. It sounded perfect on her lips. He leaned in and kissed her again, resting his forehead against hers as his hands rediscovered her hips. After tonight, he simply could not get enough.

But like all kisses they'd shared in the past couple of hours, it had to come to an end. She pulled away, beamed at him in a wordless goodbye, and straightened her amusingly oversized jacket before heading quietly up the drive.

Watching her go, Ayato's expression faded into a slight frown. Was this goodbye until the ball? He couldn't very well drop by on days where the Fukudas were at home. Quickly he wracked his brains for something to delay their parting.

"Ehana?" he called to her once an idea had sprung to mind, and she promptly turned to him. "Do you know the ruins at Horikawa?"

She nodded. "I'm familiar."

"I go there sometimes, to be alone." He paused and gave her a meaningful look. Alone, where it was peaceful and quiet, and no guildsmen to be their enthusiastic spectators. "Would you meet me there tomorrow?"

Hesitance flickered on her face, just for an instant, but she recovered with a smile. "I will try."

"And I will wait all day," he vowed.

Her eyes sparkled at him once more, then she turned to the drive and he to the horse. Climbing onto the saddle, he coaxed the steed onwards and headed straight for home. His thoughts were racing so fast they might as well have beaten him back to the castle.

There was no way he was going to be able to sleep after tonight.

* * *

And, as it seemed, neither would his parents.

The sun had just risen when epiphany struck. Ayato burst through the doors with a purpose and flung aside the red velvet curtains, allowing the morning to breach his parents' bedchamber.

A snoring Kimito began to snort and stir, rolling over on his side. "Off… with his head," he snarled groggily into the pillow.

"Kimito, wake up," Ayame rasped, sitting up and staring blearily at the Ayato-shaped silhouette in the room. "Our son has something to tell us."

Ayato smiled exuberantly at them.

"Mother! Father! Good morning!" he greeted, thrumming with energy. Why were they still in bed, anyway? Today was a brand new day, ripe with possibilities! "I want to build a university. With the largest library in Japan, where anyone can study no matter their station."

Kimito frowned skeptically at him over the bedsheets that were bunched up to his chin.

"Alright," he said in a drowsy grumble, narrowing his eyes. "Who are you, and what have you done with our son?"

Ayato laughed and closed the curtains on them, then thought better of it and threw them open again. "Oh! And I want to invite the guildsmen to the ball!"

On that note, he leapt back and darted out of the room. He hadn't gone far down the corridor when he heard his father's disgruntled voice:

"What the  _hell_ was that about?"

"Don't you know?" said his mother through a vigorous yawn. "He's in love."

The prince stopped in his tracks at the words. Thinking and feeling it was one thing, but hearing it diagnosed was another.  _In love…_

It had happened. In a matter of days – with days to  _spare!_  – it had actually happened.

He'd found the one. The one he was meant to marry.


	11. Hinami's Revenge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick content warning -- I didn't know if "graphic depictions of violence" applied, but this chapter does involve implied physical abuse and blood. Just a precaution!

Yuri awoke with a scream as something sharp and prickly jabbed her in the ribs. Her head was pounding more even horribly than her heart, and she struggled to adjust her eyes to the light. Her entire stepfamily was waiting at the foot of the bed, Hinami brandishing a broom in her hands. That couldn't be good.

"Are you ill?" the baroness demanded, wide-eyed as she prepared her weapon for another strike.

"No…" Her attempt to sit up was immediately punished by the ache in her skull. She fell back miserably with a groan and nursed her temples. "Ugh. Yes."

Ugh, what time was it? Hadn't she just crept into bed ten minutes ago? Screw this…

"Where were you?"

Yuri licked her dry lips. The part of her brain that came up with good excuses was still asleep. "I got lost."

"I don't believe you," said Hinami, for which she couldn't blame her. She shared a glance with Hisako, then tapped her long nails against the broom handle. "I know you're hiding something from me, and I want to know what it is."

"If you're so sure, then just tell me so I can get back to sleep," Yuri muttered under her breath, hugging her pillow.

She heard the broom's bristles hit the floorboards as Hinami dropped it in shock.

"What about our  _breakfast_?" Hisako barked, kicking at the mattress.

Yuri opened one eye to look at her. "Well, you have two hands," she said, waving her away. "Make it yourself."

The girl's jaw dropped, aghast. "You lazy little leech!"

"Yui," Hinami said in an oddly calm voice, not taking her eyes off of Yuri. Her expression remained fixed save for an irritated twitch of her brow. "Be a dear and go boil some water."

Yui, who'd in fact looked quietly amused by all of this, now dulled the spark of joy on her face.

"Me? Boil water?" Glancing from her mother to Yuri, her expression darkened to one of bitter realization followed by a resigned huff. Yui turned on her heel and flounced out of the room, pink twin-tails flying behind her as she squeaked angrily to herself, "I knew it, I just  _knew_ it!"

Yuri vaguely heard "Let's leave her to it" and what sounded like the door slamming before she drifted back into a peaceful slumber.

Too peaceful, maybe. But she was sure she'd worry about that just as soon as she woke up.

* * *

It must've been around noon when Yuri finally found it in her to leave her bed and start today's chores. Any later and she would probably get another visit from her stepmother, and she doubted the next time she'd be quite as merciful.

No, she knew Hinami. She definitely hadn't heard the last of this.

Sighing, she went down to the well to draw water, and splashed a handful on her face. Her reflection in the ripples was ashy and drained, pretty unbecoming for a countess _._ All those drinks last night, staying out until dawn…

God, what was she  _doing?_

She blew her wet bangs out of her eyes and wiped at her cheeks with her sleeve, then filled the bucket with water in a daze. What a mess she was in…

"Yuri!" came a hushed voice from above, and she turned to look at the manor. Shiina was poking her head out of the second floor hallway window and beckoning to her insistently. "Get in here – hurry!"

It wasn't like Shiina to make a fuss unless it was completely fuss-worthy, and Yuri doubted the woman had seen a kitten. She abandoned the bucket on the well's edge and picked up her skirts, rushing into the house. At the top of the staircase, Shiina discreetly pointed her towards the baroness's bedchambers.

When Yuri rounded the corner into the master bedroom, she was struck with a stunning case of déjà vu – Hinami, Hisako, and Yui, all gathered around Yuri's open dowry chest. Just like before, the baroness was proudly holding her mother's wedding dress up against Hisako's neck while Yui played with the matching slippers. Only Yui had the decency to awkwardly lower the shoes.

"Well, if it isn't the sleeping beauty herself," Hinami cooed in a sugary voice. "Come to finally grace us with her presence."

Narrowing her eyes, Yuri took another step into the room. "What are you doing?"

" _Hisako_  is trying on her dress," Hinami answered for her daughter, who coolly looked more interested in smoothing her hands over the beaded bodice than acknowledging Yuri at all. "Did you honestly think that after your performance this morning, I'd let you go anywhere?"

Yuri gritted her teeth. Any excuse, she should have known...

"Do you honestly think these games and intrigues are going to win you a crown?" she demanded, fists clenched at her sides as she crossed the room. Yui placed the shoes very carefully on the chest and drew back with a nervous peep. "To hunt royalty like some sport, it's disgusting!"

"You're just jealous," Hisako scoffed, breezing past her to spread the gown out on the sheets.

_Jealous?!_  Who was stealing from whom? Yuri snatched up the slippers and clutched them protectively. "These are my mother's!"

Hisako, barely turning around, cast a bored glance over her shoulder. "Yeah, and she's dead."

Yuri stared. Then she lunged across the room, curled her hand into a fist, and swung as hard as she could. The force of the blow knocked Hisako backwards with a cry as she toppled over the bed onto the hardwood floor.

But it wasn't enough. If possible, the sight of Hisako popping her head back up in doe-eyed shock made Yuri shake even harder with rage. She rounded the bedpost and lunged at her again, snarling, "I'm going to rip your hair out!"

"MOTHER?!" Hisako hollered, vaulting the bed and scrambling out of the room.

"Mother, do something!" came Yui's frightened squeal, but now the only sounds that mattered to Yuri's ears were Hisako's shrieks and her heart thudding in her chest as she raced through the hallway after her.

Hisako stumbled blindly down the stairs, pushing off the walls and hurtling around each corner. She had speed but Yuri had persistence, and the chase carried them both screaming through the drawing room. Hisako's feet skidded on stone as she ducked around the table and shoved the armchairs in Yuri's path with a grunt. Yuri dodged them, matching each of her sidesteps and moving fast when Hisako made a break for the front hallway.

Her hip smacked against the edge of an end table and jostled a candlestick, and she hissed in pain. But triumph numbed it as soon as she burst into the dining room. Hisako was trapped – there was no way out but through Yuri.

Fingers tightly grasping her mother's heels, she flew around the table and blocked Hisako's exit. Time to show her some respect for the dead!

Visible apprehension flickered over Hisako's face as she backed up against the fireplace. She was cornered and they both knew it. Her eyes darted left and right, searching frantically for a weapon. And then they fell on the chair by the fire – or, rather, the copy of  _Utopia_  resting on top of it.

Sickening dread turned Yuri's stomach as she realized what was at stake. They both pounced for the book but Hisako got there first, swiping it off the seat with a growl and thrusting it over the flames.

"Get away from me, or so help me God—" she warned.

"NO! Hisako, don't!" Yuri's voice cracked as she struggled to catch her breath, swallowing the fear that clogged her throat. "Put it down!"

"Give me the shoes!"

"PUT IT DOWN!"

Matsushita, Shiina, and Masami hastened into the dining room, but Hisako barely noticed their presence. Her chest and shoulders were heaving with angry breaths, arm quaking precariously over the open fire. A reflection of the flames blazed in her narrowed eyes, and the one on the right had already begun to darken and swell from the punch. Yuri would be proud if it weren't so clear what it might just cost her.

"Consider carefully, Yuri," said Hinami, weaving past the Iwasawas with Yui peeking out from behind her. "Your father's book or your mother's shoes. Though neither will save you from a sound lashing."

Yuri drew in a ragged breath. This was too cruel…

Those shoes, her  _dowry,_ were all she had of her mother. To hand them over to the baroness, especially in front of Matsushita and the Iwasawas who'd known and loved her, felt like a slap in the face. A devastating insult to her memory.

But that was just it. She had no memory of Ehana Sakurai. Just of curling up so many nights with  _Utopia,_ her father's voice enchanted into the very pages.

She lifted her blurred gaze to Shiina, Masami, and Matsushita, lip trembling with apology. Then to Hisako, who was edging dangerously closer to the fireplace. Even Yui, glittery-eyed and biting her lip as she stared at the beckoning flames, seemed to know what had to be done.

_Glass won't burn, but paper…_

Swallowing her pride, Yuri hesitated for a moment but reached out to pass Hinami the slippers. Instantly the woman ripped them from her hand, and no sooner had her mother reclaimed the shoes than Hisako snarled and flung the book into the embers.

" _NO!"_  Yuri dove for the fireplace as it spat up an explosion of cinders, but Hinami seized her and dragged her back. "No, no, no!"

She felt like she'd been thrown back in time. A helpless, crying eight-year-old, unable to do anything but watch as she lost her father all over again. Eyes, pages darkening as he disappeared into himself, crumbling to ashes.

"No..."

Still breathing heavily, Hisako stared down at all that she had done. When she raised her eyes again, her expression faltered for a second. Then she pushed past her stunned sister with a grimace and bolted from the room, covering her eye as she fled.

Yui looked like she was going to be sick, and Hinami barked something to Masami that Yuri could not hear. Her ear drums were ringing, her mind gone numb as  _Utopia_ curled and blackened at the edges. Slowly burnt away into nothing but ash.

The sight and acrid smell of charred paper were too much for her. Yuri coughed on a sob and broke away, pushing past Matsushita and Shiina in a blind haste and ignoring their gasps. She could hear Hinami's shoes clicking against stone behind her but she didn't care. She clenched her teeth, shut her eyes, and braced herself for Hinami's wrath.

As far as she was concerned, they'd already done their worst.

* * *

Yui crept up the stairs to Yuri's bedroom, a bowl of water and wet rags in hand. She paused at the door and felt her heart clench painfully at Yuri's muffled sobs. The whipping had been awful – ten solid cracks against bare skin like Yui had never heard it before. On the fourth crack Yuri could no longer choke back her cries of pain, and Yui had whimpered and hidden her face in Shiina's shoulder as she prayed for the blows to end.

She'd done nothing. She'd never felt so powerless. But at least she could help her now. Biting her lip, Yui raised her fist to the door and knocked.

There was a small sniffle, and then came Yuri's voice in a tired croak. "…Shiina?"

The door creaked as Yui pushed it open and stepped tentatively into the room, trying on an awkward half-smile.

"It was going to be Shiina," she answered shyly. "I asked to do it instead."

Yuri started to lift her head and look at her, then thought better of it and buried her head in the sheets again. It wasn't hard to see why even from a distance. Yui took her quietness as acceptance and approached the bed. Yuri was lying face-down on the mattress, the back of her underdress torn open to reveal bare bloodied skin. Ten angry welts glared up at her, severe evidence of her mother's cruelty. Yui stared at the beaded red lines with a furrowed brow before placing the rag bowl on a stool by Yuri's bedside.

"May I…?" she asked, shifting uneasily and wringing her hands. If she didn't want a Fukuda right now, Yui would understand.

Silence. Then a tired conceding grunt. "Mmph."

Accepting that as the best yes she could offer, Yui took a rag and carefully cleaned the blood around the lacerations. That was the easy part; Yuri didn't even make a peep as Yui dabbed at the area. Her stepsister was strong, but Yui already knew that. All those years… not just of heavy lifting, but keeping her mouth shut and forcing a smile whenever Hisako and their mother said such rotten things. If she had been in Yuri's place, she would've exploded years ago.

Thank goodness she hadn't. After all, look what had come of it…

Yui unfurled a strip of cloth and tried to place it delicately on the wound, wincing when it slipped more unceremoniously than she'd intended and Yuri drew a sharp breath. Shiina had warned her the ointment she'd used would sting a little. Maybe she wasn't very good at this.

"You really brought this upon yourself, you know," she said, trying to be gentler as she continued to dress the wounds. She caught Yuri looking up at her out of the corner of her eye. "Hmm? First with breakfast, and then all the idiocy downstairs."

"I don't know what's come over me," Yuri mumbled. There was genuine regret in her tone, but on top of that, true bafflement at her actions.

She sounded almost… lost.

A slow grin spread across Yui's lips, and she paused as she was reaching for another bandage strip. "Even so, I'll never forget the way Hisako's feet went up over her head like that."

Even Yuri giggled at this despite the pain. The moment would be forever seared into both their memories. Maybe if Masami taught her how to play guitar one day she could even write  _songs_  about it. The girl who disrespected the dead and went flying over the bed...

Yui's snicker died off with a frown. She peered down at this girl, this stepsister she'd known only as a servant when she should have been treated as family. Then at the punishment that marred her skin. All of this because Yuri dared to protect what she had. She hoped it wasn't too late to make things right. Breathing a sad sigh, Yui applied another bandage to the wound with the softest ministrations. "She shouldn't have said that about your mother."

A thick silence blanketed the attic as Yuri's muscles tensed beneath the rags. Then, after a watery sniff, came the quietest murmur.

"Thank you."

* * *

Meanwhile, hidden away in the safety of her bedchambers, Hisako tried not to squirm in her vanity chair as Masami surveyed the damage. Apparently after she'd run from the room, Hinami had ordered the younger Iwasawa to do what she could about Hisako's eye before they had to leave for the palace. Perhaps if her mother had seen the same expression on the little songbird's face that she had, Hisako would not be in the situation that she was right now.

But Masami did what she was bid. And so Hisako was condemned to sit still with a cold compress as every so often the girl cupped her chin and looked into her eyes, examining her face in complete stony silence. She'd barely spoken a word since she walked in. It was almost as painful and just as irritating as the throbbing above Hisako's cheek.

She'd even baited her earlier with, "So how bad is it?" And any other time, Masami might've come back with something like, "You'll have to be more specific." But she'd  _ignored_  her, and Hisako had almost fallen out of her seat because of it.

Teasing one another was their thing. That was the norm between them, and it was the only thing that might draw her attention from the growing bruise on her face. In its absence, there was just the feeling of Masami's fingers cradling her chin, which only made her more keenly aware of her own skin and all its sensations. How was she supposed to even plan what she would say to the queen with a distraction like this?

At last, when Masami handed her the cold compress again and turned to fetch the salve, Hisako couldn't take the silence any longer.

"Nothing to say to me, huh?" she scoffed, holding the compress against her eye. "That's new."

Masami pressed her lips into a thin line, continuously mixing the salve in its container. When she finally looked up, her normally spirited cerise eyes were decidedly cool as they met Hisako's. "You burnt Yuri's book."

"She punched me in the face." Though she felt a small surge of victory at getting a reaction, Hisako was still quick to defend herself. Temporarily free of Masami's strict attentions, she turned to glare into the nearest mirror. "For God's sake, I'm meeting with the queen today! I can't go looking like this!"

"Bruises fade," Masami said simply. She took Hisako's chin firmly in her grip again and angled it towards her, then retrieved the cold compress and set it aside.

"Well so do scars," Hisako bit back, flinching when Masami's thumb grazed the apple of her cheek. "I don't suppose you'll take the same attitude towards the lashing she got today."

Masami's eyes flared red, but she didn't respond. Not until Hisako started shifting awkwardly again. "Stay still," she instructed.

The sharp edge in her tone stunned Hisako into compliance. Was she really so angry with her? The lashing did sound pretty terrible, even to her, but at least Yuri could hide the welts under her clothes. It paled in comparison to the humiliation Hisako would endure speaking with the queen with a swollen purple nightmare on her face! Or was all of this really about Yuri's precious book?

She winced as the cool salve touched her skin, and Masami hesitated for a moment before dabbing it sensibly around the bruise. Her set jaw and furrowed brow held such a jarring contrast to the light touch of her fingertips, it was downright unsettling.

But there was nothing more unsettling than Masami's wordlessness. Not that she would ever tell her this, but Hisako  _liked_ her voice. Where her mother's and Yui's were shrill, Masami's was soothing, soft and melodious. She'd more than earned her nickname over the years, what with her rooftop music and her hums of laughter when they'd make fun of each other.

It would be a different world indeed without the little songbird's voice in it, or so Hisako was beginning to realize. Although… she supposed this was a preview of what life would be like at the palace. Obviously Masami would not come to live at the palace as well unless she was ordered. She was so loyal to Yuri, after all.

"I know you do so love to take her side," Hisako said with an aggrieved huff, "but look what she did to me! After I did absolutely nothing to deserve it!"

As expected, Masami arched a disbelieving eyebrow. And yet she pursed her lips again and quietly applied more salve.

Hisako tried to scowl, but flinched at the twitch of her cheekbone. "So you're just going to ignore me now?" Then she added more loftily, "When just last night, I thought we were having a moment."

Masami's ministrations briefly paused, narrowed eyes fixed attentively on her work.

"I don't know who I was talking to up there," she said after a while, and brushed some of Hisako's bangs out of the way to resume applying the salve. "I thought I saw someone else, someone genuine and vulnerable. Someone who could be her own person, without the baroness's influence."

She closed her eyes, shaking her head as she pulled back. And then her voice turned cold.

"The person I saw today was much worse."

Indignation burned at Hisako's cheeks and she swallowed it down hard, feeling it sear at her chest and plunge like a heavy rock to the pit of her stomach. She opened her mouth to retaliate, and finding herself at a lack for words, angrily clicked it shut.

"No one told you to destroy the one thing Yuri had left of her father. That was your choice." Abruptly she capped the salve and set it in her lap, then glared at Hisako. "And for what? All for the sake of her mother's dress?"

"Oh, what does she need it for anyway?" Hisako grumbled. "By the time she takes it out on her wedding day, her chimney sweep husband shall have to brush mountains of dust off the damn thing…"

"So you deserve it more, is that right?"

"Of course I do."

"And why is that?" Masami's eyes met hers challengingly. "Tell me why."

"Because she's vulgar, and improper, and dirty," Hisako listed off on her fingers, her ire rising steadily with each point. "The day we arrived she was wearing a perfectly good dress and it was  _covered_ in mud. She always does whatever she wants, it's as if she—"

"—doesn't know her own place?" Masami finished brusquely.

"Yes!" said Hisako, exasperated.

Masami nodded, cupping the salve container tightly in her hands. "And someone so lowly should  _never_  have something so refined."

"That's right—"

It was then that Hisako hesitated, her confident rant chipped by a small cough of surprise. She blinked at Masami, whose firm stare wavered for a moment but came back fiercer as she bit her rose-petal lip in quiet ire. They were venturing into something unsaid here, something that sent Hisako's heart into a panicked frenzy. Fluttering like a baby bird who was about to take wing.

"I only meant—" she started to say, her breath catching and coiling in her throat, but then a shrill voice rang out in the hallway.

"Hisako, darling, we leave in fifteen minutes! We cannot keep Her Majesty waiting!"

She swallowed hard, kneading the fabric of her undergarments in her curled fists. A fifteen-minute warning and she hadn't even dressed yet. Across from her, Masami twisted the salve cap shut and stood up abruptly.

"I'll leave you to it, then," she said, and with a curt dismissing nod she headed for the door.

Hisako's indignation burned anew, her breath turning to smoke and ice in her lungs. Something told her that once Masami walked out of this room, the little songbird wouldn't be singing to her anymore. Not a note, not even a snide comment. She wanted to jump to her feet but she found herself frozen in her chair.

"Iwasawa, I…" The words wouldn't come.

Masami didn't turn around, but she did hesitate, her fingers grazing the wooden doorframe as her footsteps slowed.

"You must know there's more to her than that," she said severely. For just a moment, she spared a glimpse over her shoulder, but looked away as disappointment coated the anger in her eyes. "I really thought there was something more to you."

Then she was gone. And as if someone struck a sour chord, Hisako's thoughts numbed and went abuzz. They echoed loudly in pure silence, mixing with her shallow breaths.

Unlike Masami herself, her words stayed with Hisako. Carved into her and emblazoned as if she'd struck with a whip instead of her tongue. And for the life of her she could not get them out.

She knew those songs would follow her to the castle, perhaps for good, even if her little bird would not.

Maybe there would be music in the queen's gardens.


	12. Love Among The Ruins

It was a beautiful day in the kingdom of Maeda when Hinami and Hisako joined the queen in the gardens for tea. The weather was perfectly warm, the wisteria tunnels bloomed in the background, and a lovely vine-covered gazebo provided the perfect shade over their heads. Still the bruise around Hisako's eye gleamed a hearty purple in the sunlight.

"You really must let my doctor look at that," said Queen Ayame, wincing in sympathy as she held a hand to her own cheek. She shook her head in awe. "To think you saved that baby from a runaway horse."

Blinking out of a daze, Hisako turned a nervous grimace into a courteous smile.

"A maternal instinct, Majesty," she said carefully.

Not the rescue, that is, but her own mother's crafty embellishment. Masami's care had only done so much to reduce the swelling and color before they left for the palace, so Hinami came up with an elaborate backstory on the ride there. Another shameless lie right to the queen's face. But technically Hisako wasn't the one lying – Hinami had been more than happy to gush over all the details of her daughter's heroic deed.

Hisako hadn't said much of anything, really. Her mother had been doing most of the talking for her since they arrived, with Hisako tuning in and out to agree or offer small talk and other niceties.

Had it always worked like this? It came so naturally to her that she barely had to emerge from her thoughts – and this afternoon there were many.

As far back as she could remember, she had so often gone along with what her mother had to say. Hinami was smart and elegant and beautiful – and when Hisako was young her father had called her his queen, and she'd believed it for so long because power emanated off her mother in waves. She wanted to be just like her. So when her mother first told her she was born to be queen, she believed that too, and it meant everything in the world.

It was all she'd dreamed about ever since. All she'd ever really thought of. She stopped playing games and sports with her father and Yui just because her mother said it was unqueenly of her. Cleanliness was next to godliness, after all, and the road to success would be a tricky one full of noble sacrifice.

Hinami had also told her to never doubt herself, but here she was. How much of herself had she sacrificed to get this far? Would it all be worth it in the end?

The way Masami had looked at her today… it was different from how she'd looked at her on the roof last night. She wanted to go back to that night. Unburn the book if she could. It hadn't been worth it at all. It seemed so frivolous now, knowing how easily Hinami used the black eye to their advantage.

It tightened their web of lies, and in one flick of her hand, reinforced a distance between her and Masami she wasn't sure she wanted. One that would only grow stronger when she married the prince and moved into the castle. Without the songbird she'd – dare she say it – grown to love.

But why would she come? Why would she want to be with someone who would look down at her so?

" _Call me naïve, but I believe in following your heart."_

Following her heart… Hisako suppressed a scoff. Please, could it ever be that easy? Imagine turning down the proposal of a prince to be with the pretty servant girl who plays guitar. Her mother would collapse clutching her chest just like Kaishou Nakamura.

The path to queendom was muddled, but it sure as hell was easier.

And yet…

" _To blind yourself to true love because of someone's station… it could be the biggest mistake of your life."_

Was it true, what she said to her last night? Was she making a big mistake?

These lies… they didn't sit well with her sometimes. They were getting worse and worse. And if she married Prince Ayato, she would be living one – for as long as she reigned.

As if somehow sensing that Hisako's thoughts were on the prince, Queen Ayame paused whatever she'd been talking about and smiled ruefully.

"I do apologize that my son can't join us," she said, and raised her eyebrows at Hinami in a meaningful mother-to-mother way, "but he seems to have disappeared again."

Hinami regarded her thoughtfully over the rim of her tea cup. "Again?"

Her inquiry prompted a soft chuckle from the queen. "Oh, I suppose you don't run into this problem often with daughters," she said knowingly, but leaned forward to share with her just the same. "Ayato was gone all day yesterday and didn't come home until dawn!"

Something cooled behind Hinami's eyes for a moment, a calculating coral ice, before her features softened into a saccharine smile.

"Well!" she said brilliantly. "It must be marvelous to have that kind of stamina."

The queen beamed in companionable motherly agreement; then, if it were possible, she brightened even more like something had just occurred to her.

"Perhaps you could help solve a mystery for me." Queen Ayame leaned in further, jewels shaking and jingling as she tilted her head to the side in an excited wonder. "Do you know the Countess Sakurai? Apparently she's staying with a cousin, but no one seems to know who!"

Hisako fell into a pensive frown. Yes, the mysterious countess she kept hearing about… Sakurai did sound vaguely familiar, but it was Hinami who knew all the big family names. She looked to the woman curiously, piquing a brow.

Her mother had gone alarmingly pale, though a darkness flashed behind her eyes. She sucked in her cheeks, unset her jaw, and through a tight smile she managed in a tinny voice, " _Ehana_  Sakurai?"

"Yes!" Queen Ayame breathed a sigh of relief, breaking into laughter. "How wonderful. I was beginning to think she was a ghost."

Hisako laughed awkwardly along, her eyes still fixed on her mother. What was with that reaction? Was there a family feud she didn't know about?

"No, I'm afraid she's been around for years," Hinami crooned, glancing furtively to Hisako, "and staying with us, as a matter of fact. Isn't that right, darling?"

"Of course," Hisako immediately agreed, catching the look. Which was of course another lie, but it was her job to play along – and to be honest she wanted to know where her mother was going with this one. "Our… cousin."

Aside to her, Hinami added through clenched teeth, "Whom you like to call Cindersoot."

The gazebo might as well have crashed down on Hisako's skull. She looked sharply to her mother and the expression on her face said it all. Disappearing all day, gone through the night, a countess no one had heard of before – it was Yuri _._

" _Love can transcend all that."_

" _To blind yourself to true love because of someone's station… it could be the biggest mistake of your life."_

" _And someone so lowly should_ never _have something so refined._ "

" _You must know there's more to her than that._ "

Hisako's face seared a deep scarlet as it all started to make sense. As she realized how wrong she'd been. All this time. All this goddamn time – it'd been Yuri. Everything had been about stupid  _ **Yuri!**_

She sprang from the table, stormed into the gardens, and began to scream.

* * *

Far away under the canopy of a tranquil forest, Yuri stood at the entrance of the Horikawa ruins trying to find comfort in its grandeur.

What remained of the castle was a lovingly kept secret, shrouded in trees and vines and other greenery. She could understand why Ayato would want to meet here. Her father said it had once been magnificent to behold before the desolation of war and time. In Yuri's opinion, what it was now was something better. A refuge, inhabited only by birds and traces of old mysteries. She could probably climb to the tallest tower and sleep for a hundred years without being disturbed if she pleased.

Really, it was a perfect place for what she had to do.

Taking a deep breath for courage, Yuri smoothed the skirts of her red velvet gown – courtesy of Otonashi and another of his portrait models – and stepped through the archway. Though the welts on her back cursed each movement, she looked all around taking in the historical beauty.

And then she saw him. Perched comfortably on a window ledge between two pillars, reading by the sunlight that seeped through the trees. He looked up as he heard her approach, and green fringe fell away from his golden eyes that came alive with a special glint.

"You came," he said, shifting off of the ledge.

She managed a weak half-smile as he strode across the room to meet her. "I did say I'd try, didn't I?"

"Lucky for you I'm a patient man." Ayato flashed her a playful grin, but at once it began to fade when he studied her close. "Is something the matter?"

The question, so innocently posed, nearly brought her to tears. "I'm… I'm afraid I'm not myself today," she said, her voice shaky and thick.

Ayato laughed anxiously, fidgeting with the pages of the book in his hand and looking unfairly bashful. "I feel like my skin's the only thing keeping me from going everywhere at once."

Yuri drew in a breath. He was so happy. How could she have let things get this far? How could she have dared…?

"There's something I have to tell you," she pressed.

"And I you," he said fondly, making her heart flutter and crack at the same time. It was highly unlikely they were talking about the same thing. "Oh – here, your book. You left it in the carriage yesterday."

Hesitantly she accepted it from him. "Your Highness…"

"Ayato."

Yuri shook her head. She didn't dare. It already hurt too much. "I can't stay long, but I had to see you. There's… there's so much to say."

"Maybe I can help you find the words." Beaming, Ayato gently reached out and took her hand in his. "Come with me. I want to show you something."

He guided her through an archway, deeper into the labyrinth, until they walked into a room with an open sky. A private forest among the ruins where trees climbed the stone walls and ever higher.

"My brother and I used to play here when we were kids," Ayato said, instinctively ducking under an arched branch as if he'd done it his whole life. She followed suit, carefully watching her step. "It was our father's most cherished retreat before the war."

"It's beautiful," Yuri breathed, keeping her voice to an awed whisper. In a way it felt like the castle's own natural library – a museum of trees with so many stories to tell.

Ayato wandered among the verdure, almost in a trance, resting his hand on the bark like it was the small of a lover's back.

"I've measured my life by these trees," he went on, circling one. He knelt and gestured to its base. "Starting here, now all the way up there. And still they grow." He lifted his eyes to the treetops in reverence and pride, before his gaze fell on Yuri as they met in the middle of the tiny forest. "So much life to live. But I no longer imagine it alone."

Yuri bit the insides of her cheeks. "You're not making this easy."

"I can't even sleep for fear I'll wake up and find this all a dream," Ayato admitted. He turned around and began to pace, as Yuri covered a hand over her mouth to keep from groaning. "Last night, I had a revelation. I used to think that if I cared about anything, I would have to care about  _everything_ —" he flung out his arms in aggravation—"and I'd go stark raving mad. But now I've found my purpose. A project actually inspired by you."

He returned to her then, entwining their hands.

"And I feel," he murmured, leaning his forehead against hers, "the most wonderful…  _freedom_."

Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes.  _That certainty_ … "It wasn't me."

Ayato chuckled, shaking his head at her humility. "Ehana, you are unlike any courtier I have ever met," he said in amazement, cupping her cheek and gazing deep into her eyes. "Tomorrow at the masque, I will make it known to the world."

It took of all her resolve to look away – all the strength she'd been using to hold everything else together. A sob clawed at her throat, tears rolling down her cheeks and onto the dirt at their feet.

"Why did you have to be so wonderful?" she whispered, clenching her fists at her sides.

He lifted her chin with a finger. "What was it you had to tell me?"

She stared into his sparkling eyes, his blissful grin, that unwavering certainty and happiness alight on his face. To rip that out from under him here and now, make him look like a fool… she couldn't do it. She just couldn't. She didn't have the heart when it was already breaking her own.

"Only that…" Yuri swallowed thickly past another sob, "last night was the happiest night of my life."

At first, she went to make her leave, but her hand had found its way in his once more and held her back. She turned to face him, this awful and wonderful prince who'd stolen a horse one day but now her heart.

After everything that happened today, she knew things had gone too far. The two of them could never be together. But if she could have one simple closure…

She drew closer to him, daring to succumb to her stupid heart just one more time. Letting them be Yuri and Ayato just for now, another secret left behind in the Horikawa ruins. Leaning in, he kissed her softly at first but she angled her head to deepen it. Her hands drifted to his cheeks, brushing his fringe away that it would not be dampened by her tears. His arms crept around her waist and wound tight – and she cried out and pulled away as a searing pain shot through her back.

It was a reminder. A reminder of what she came to do, why all of this was wrong. Why did she keep making this worse for them?

Looking up at his concerned frown was too much for her. She ignored his puzzled apologies and stumbled away from him, darting through the spindly tree maze with a whimper of a farewell.

"Ehana!" his voice called after her. She kept running and didn't look back.

_Coward,_  her thoughts screamed.  _Coward! Faker! Weak!_

Maybe she was all of those things. But she wasn't Ehana. So she ran and she didn't stop until she'd left Horikawa and its secrets far behind.

* * *

Having changed back into her work clothes in the forest outside the manor, Yuri washed her face at the well and then slipped through the front door as discreetly as she could. She clutched her folded red gown under her arm and stepped lightly up the stairs, hoping the Fukudas were still out and she could smuggle it somewhere safe for the time being.

Per her luck, as soon as she rounded the corner Hinami came flying down the hall with the most hateful twisted scowl ever to grace her noble features.

"Of all the insidious jokes, turning your mother into a countess," the baroness spat. Hisako sulked behind her, looking very much like Yuri had socked her in the stomach instead of the eye. "It's almost as ridiculous as a prince spending his days with a servant who sleeps with pigs."

Yuri looked at her dully. To be honest, at this point of the day this might as well happen.

"What bothers you more, stepmother," she asked, keeping her tone even, "that I'm common, or that I'm competition?"

Anger flashed simultaneously in the Fukudas' eyes, although Hisako's attention had shifted over Yuri's shoulder. "Where is the dress, Yuri?!" Hinami barked.

Yuri, who had been more interested in checking behind her to see Yui and Masami coming down the hallway, turned back to the baroness with even more disinterest. She was running precariously low on patience today. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"The gown, the slippers," Hisako said slowly, like she was talking to a moron. "They were in my room this morning and now they're gone. You hid them, I know it!"

"Where did you put the gown, Yuri?" Hinami kept her voice cool and dangerous, deftly whisking red velvet from Yuri's grip. "I won't repeat myself again."

By now Matsushita and Shiina had crept downstairs to investigate. Yuri looked to them, and to Masami, before fixing Hinami with a cold glare. Since the baroness brought it up, she had a few questions herself. And with an audience like this, now was as good a time as any.

"Where are the candlesticks, and the tapestries, and the silver?!" she shot back, slamming her fist against the wall. "Perhaps the dress is with them!"

Hinami flinched. "You will produce that gown, or—"

"I would rather die a thousand deaths," Yuri growled through her teeth, vision going red with boiled blood as her voice rose to a roar, "than to see  _MY_   _MOTHER'S_   _DRESS_  ON  _ **YOUR SPOILED, SELFISH BRAT!**_ "

A silence settled on the air. Her stepsister's absolute jaw-drop confirmed that the outburst was real and hadn't stayed in her head, but she barely cared. She could hardly steady her own breathing. Her whole body was quaking with rage and she felt like her legs would collapse under her. With nothing left to lose, she glared steadfast at her stepmother. There was no taking it back now.

Hinami quirked a dangerous eyebrow. "Well," she said in a misleadingly calm voice. "Perhaps we can arrange that."

She seized Yuri by the arm and dragged her down the stairs over to the cellar. Unbolting the door, she flung Yuri inside like a piece of laundry.

"Get in there!"

Yuri staggered and caught herself on a basket, turning in time to see Hinami slam the door behind her. With one last spiteful glare, the woman snapped the locks shut and sent her into unforgiving darkness.

* * *

"Open that door, and you'll wish you never set foot in this house," Hinami warned to the household, as everyone had congregated on the stairs. She pushed past the servants with her dress skirts in hand. "Hisako, Yui, gather everything that will fetch a price. We're going to town first thing in the morning."

"Mother?" said Yui, stopping her as she turned the corner. "It's only a ball."

"Yes, and you're only going for the sweets," Hinami said crisply, and with a sweep of her gown she disappeared up the second staircase.

Yui hesitated on the steps, her soft features crumpling with hurt, then wrinkled her nose and stormed up to her bedroom.

Meanwhile Hisako was still standing near the top of the stairs. Her fists were clenched and she breathed sharply through her nose, opening her mouth and closing it in an argument with herself. She heard Matsushita and Shiina disappear into the kitchens, and shut her eyes for a second before spinning around. In the front hall close to the cellar, Masami stood looking up at her – but startled to catch her eye. Then she composed herself with a frown and opened her mouth to speak.

"The biggest mistake of my life, huh?" Hisako snapped before the girl could say anything.

Masami blinked. "What—"

Hisako caught her breath, and descended the stairs in a burst of anger.

"'To blind yourself to true love because of someone's station… could be the biggest mistake of your life,'" she repeated sharply, tugging Masami aside where nosy cellar-dwellers would not eavesdrop. "This was what you really meant, wasn't it? You were talking about him and her!"

A look of understanding crossed Masami's face, and then a flash of uncertainty. "I wasn't—"

"Oh please, you think you're so coy trying to warn me like that," Hisako fumed, crossing her arms at her. "All that bullshit last night about love transcending class and following your heart. You must've had a good laugh after I left, with  _Cindersoot_ no doubt when you helped her sneak in after her good time with the prince."

"I  _meant_  what I said!" Masami insisted.

"Oh, I'm sure you did," said Hisako with a scoff. "How long has this courtier masquerade of hers been going on anyway?"

Masami thought for a moment before her eyes narrowed at her. "Since she had to rescue my  _stepfather_  from being sold into slavery."

Hisako heard the accusation in her tone and felt like she'd been slapped. The reverberations of guilt stung her like a nettle. Of course – her mother sold Matsushita and very nearly cost Masami someone she loved. And now…

"I see how it is," she said in growing realization. "So you and Cindersoot conspired to take something from me."

"It wasn't like that!"

"You two never wanted me to be queen – don't think I haven't overheard your little jokes!" Hisako continued, pointing a finger in Masami's face. "You tried to get inside my head. Talking to me about what I really want, as if you actually care. Planting seeds in my head to make me  _doubt_  myself! To make me  _think,_  that  _we_ could…"

She caught herself, reddening furiously, and glowered at Masami to wipe whatever look that was off her face.

"It was pretty clever, I'll admit," she said, lowering her voice to a hiss. "I really did fall for it. But only because I never thought you would stoop to that kind of trick—"

"Hisako, I wasn't trying to trick you!" Masami interrupted. "Unlike you, I would never pretend to love someone I didn't have feelings for. Not for status, not for  _revenge_. I suppose I might pretend  _not_ to love someone because I thought I couldn't be with them. Which is obviously what you are doing now!"

Hisako reeled back, almost tripping over the front hallway step. Masami grabbed her by the wrist to steady her, and Hisako's face burned even deeper burgundy to match her dress before she snatched her hand away.

"It doesn't matter, because I'm more determined than ever," she grouched, knowing she couldn't afford to believe her. She could just hear her mother's voice in her head.  _Fool me twice…_  "You could never be with a book-burner and I could never be with a servant. I'm going to be the queen I was born to be.  _Your_ queen, despite your elaborate efforts to sabotage me. And you are not going to get in my away."

Masami scowled at her, folding her arms across her chest. "What are you going to do,  _sell_  me?"

"No, I would never sell you like some old broodmare! I am not my mother!" Hisako snapped indignantly, balling her fists as a sting in the back of her throat became like pinpricks in the corner of her eyes. "But with your precious Yuri out of the running, I'm going to go to the ball, marry the prince, move out of your stupid manor and into the palace, and then we'll never have to see each other again!"

Masami's eyes flared up like heated rubies. "As you wish, my lady," she seethed.

Pivoting, she vanished into the kitchens, while Hisako swept up her dress skirts and flounced upstairs to her room. She slammed her door behind her and fell against the wood, struggling to catch her breath. Burying her face in her hands, she sunk to the floor with a muffled groan.

The prince could never make her feel like this. Right now, that seemed like a very good thing.


	13. Go To Kanade!

"Engaged?" Ayato repeated feebly. "To a  _Kakiharan_?"

Ayame nodded, wringing her gloved hands at him with a sad smile. "I'm afraid so."

The queen had intercepted her son upon his return and led him into the gardens for a private chat. She hated to be the bearer of bad news so he'd known at once it was something important. At least important enough for her to hurriedly cut in while he regaled her with his meeting in Horikawa.

And, well…

"That's impossible, there has to be some mistake." Ayato offered his mother a wry grin, even a weak snort. This wasn't usually her sense of humor. Maybe she had misheard? Because he couldn't possibly imagine the Ehana he knew hiding something so significant.

Outspoken and brave, in the last few days she had shared everything with him. It was one of the things he'd greatly admired about her.

"She was traveling by boat this afternoon," Ayame said regretfully, watching him as he began to pace the trail. "Baroness Hinami was quite reluctant to talk about it."

"Well it's no  _wonder_ , with tidings such as these!" Ayato clutched at his scalp in frustration. "If she was betrothed then she damn well should've had the decency to say something!"

The queen gave a rich laugh. "Would you have listened?"

"Of course not! I would've—"

His riding boots scraped to an abrupt stop, kicking up gravel as he turned in horrific realization to the sympathetic wince on his mother's face. So all-knowing, that woman. Always asked exactly the right questions.

And here he'd thought he'd inherited her attention to detail. But a trembling Ehana, tearful and barely able to even look at him as she confessed that she couldn't stay? No, nothing amiss there. Not at all!

"How could I have been so blind?" Ayato moaned. Rolling his eyes heavenward, he walked back to his mother in a mock strut like the foolish peacock he'd been. "There I was, pouring my royal heart out, and she was simply trying to bid me farewell!"

Ayame smiled, cupping his face in her hands. "It is a strong soul who can keep her wits about her," she said fondly, "with you trying to steal her heart."

He softened briefly, before all the memories of these past few days scattered in his head and he tried to piece them back together.

Of course. At court where they met she had been most certainly evasive. The effort to which he strove for her name now made him cringe horribly. After that, besides the accidental lakeside meeting where she'd accepted his cloak, it was he who pursued her – who came riding up to the manor seducing her with books and adventure. Every move, he realized with growing horror, every first move had been his.

" _No, my lady, it is your mouth that has me hypnotized."_

Ayato wished dreadfully for the nearest wall to repeatedly hit his head.

"Yes, and what a clumsy thief I've turned out to be," he said with a scowl, and stalked down the trail away from the gardens, shoving past a couple of guards.

He should have known it was too perfect, too quick, too easy. And now – had the kingdom ever seen a bigger fool?

"Oh, come now, Ayato," the queen called after him. "Any choice is better than Toba!"

* * *

In town the next morning, two figures conspired in secret while shrouded in the darkness of a marketplace alley.

"Go to the prince, tell him what's happened!" said Matsushita the Fifth, his eyes darting between the young man in front of him and the crowd outside a nearby shop. He had precious minutes, if that, and this was his only chance to get help.

"What?!" the other recoiled, his back pressed against the stonework. "But I'm nobody – the prince would never see me!"

"You're her  _friend_ , Otonashi, she needs your help! The prince expects to see her!"

"I can't," Otonashi insisted, breaking into a sweat at the thought. "Besides, Igarashi has me working tonight!"

Matsushita paced the alley in frustration. "Then go to Tachibana! Surely an artist can see another artist." He poked his head out of the alley while Otonashi sputtered anew, ignoring the boy's tomato red face in favor of the Fukudas as they strolled out of the store with a bundle of fabric tucked in Hisako's arms. There was no more time to spare.

"I'm just an apprentice, and Kanade Tachibana is the greatest artist in the world!" Otonashi yelped at him, grabbing fistfuls of his orange hair. "I could no sooner talk to God!"

Exasperated, Matsushita turned back to Otonashi and seized him by the shoulders, shaking some sense into the boy.

"For once in your life, man, be bold!" he cried, then quickly released him and darted off across the street.

It was up to Otonashi now. He was counting on him – and so was Yuri.

* * *

Seriously, the things she got him into…

Maybe it was love, maybe it was bravery, maybe it was his annoying conscience that went by the name of Hatsune or maybe it was just plain idiocy. But at as darkness fell and the beginning of the masque announced itself with the percussive bang of fireworks, Otonashi ducked past the carriages and decorated swarms in a heated dash towards the castle gate.

Up ahead, he could already see a snag in his plan (if he'd even really had one). Two of the king's guards were stopping each guest at the drawbridge, asking to see their invitation before they waved them in.

This would take smarts. He was already lucky if he hadn't called enough attention to himself sprinting 'round court in his ragged, paint-smeared work clothes. The crowd, it seemed, was too abuzz to care. A golden bull-masked gentleman cloaked in black and yellow was already chatting up a young wolf girl. A yellow fairy happily twirled her dress in front of a man painted up like a crocodile. Elsewhere, a jester face was trying to cheer up a sulky young lady wearing a cat mask.

The carriage shielding him from view finally rumbled past, so he covered his head and kept low as he ran to hide behind a nearby wall.

Alright, he needed to think! To get in there, he'd need – not just a disguise,  _everyone_  here had a disguise!

He needed…

Presently there came quick footsteps and a nervous humming from below. Furrowing his brow, Otonashi peered down to see the royal page hovering in a dark corner. Squeezing in very close to the wall and glancing discreetly over his shoulder. Not hard to guess what this guy was up to.

Otonashi tsked quietly and reached for a small clay garden pot at his feet. He'd be doing a public service, really…

"You there – page boy!" he hissed, getting the man's attention with a low whistle. "Incoming!"

The man looked up, flushed with startled indignation.

"I'm  _Chri_ —"

_CRASH._ His body hit the ground with a dull thud.

Dusting his hands off, Otonashi crept down the stairs and dragged his unconscious body out of sight. He felt kind of bad for breaking the guy's glasses, but hey – dropping ceramics from that height could've done worse.

He was still alive. He just wouldn't need his clothes for a little while.

* * *

At last the big night had finally come, and the Fukudas were poised and ready to make an entrance. Hisako paraded down the stairs in a shimmering green gown of splendid scales, the back of her collar fanning out into a fin of blue-green beads and lace. In her hand she held a beaded dark green half-face mask to go with her dress. The gems of her silver headdress were a pale crystal blue shaped like shells and starfish, and held her golden brown hair in a fetching updo.

Yui traipsed close behind in a peach-and-cream-colored gown with puffy sleeves. One could hardly see her grumpy pout beneath her bulky mask – more of a helmet, really – but she made no effort to keep her dour mood a secret.

"I wanted to be the mermaid!" she sniffed, her disguise bouncing and nodding along with each step.

Hisako heard her mother scoff at the top of the stairs. "Gracious, Yui, the horse is one of the noblest creatures on this green earth!"

"Hmph! Why don't I just pull the carriage while I'm at it?"

"If you think you can get us there any faster…"

Snorting, Hisako allowed Matsushita the Fifth to escort her by the hand into the awaiting carriage. But as she sat, she couldn't help but notice who wasn't with him. Someone she'd seen very little of since yesterday, only at meals and passing glimpses in the hallway. She hadn't even heard her out on the roof last night playing any music.

"… _I'm going to go to the ball, marry the prince, move out of your stupid manor and into the palace, and then we'll never have to see each other again!"_

Apparently, as far as Masami was concerned, that destiny was already underway.

And, well – Hisako ruffled slightly – of course it was! It had been a long time in the making, something she and her mother had worked for almost her entire life. Nothing could stop it – if anything tried, her mother would know exactly what to do to it.

Hisako made a face, trying to ignore the odd pang in her stomach.

But still… it was a shame the younger Iwasawa couldn't be here to see her off looking as she was. In the dress that was sure to win her the crown and leave all of Maeda breathless. To see the look on her face as she took in the sight of the beautiful future queen. She wouldn't be able to take her eyes off of her. And thereafter, her songs would be of the charming mermaid who got away—

_No_! Hisako scowled, finally scooting to make room for Yui and turning away from her sister's curious stare. No more thoughts like that!

Tonight was about the masque, and the prince, and beginning the life of her dreams.

She was too close to falter now.

* * *

Otonashi tugged at his royal attendant clothes with a frown. The page boy hadn't been exactly his size, particularly around the legs, but what's done was done and it would have to work for now. He adjusted the shirt importantly and strode into the castle, nodding to the guards at the drawbridge as he passed. Once he was through, he wiped a bead of sweat from his brow and tried to stifle a laugh.

Operation Infiltrate was a success. Now what?

Time to find Tachibana.

Initially that seemed like a simple task, as he moved through the crowd looking this way and that. The girl shouldn't be hard to pick out in a crowd. From what he'd heard of the artist, she was said to be very distinctive and very beautiful, with moon-colored hair and the face of an angel. But she was also quite small – and almost everyone was wearing masks and many hats and head coverings.

He gave up trying to pinpoint her and approached the partygoers instead to ask if they'd seen her.

"Haven't had the pleasure," said one.

"Afraid not," said another.

"Like a butterfly, she is," an older woman apologized. "In one room, and then perhaps another."

One young man ventured a guess and pointed him in the direction of the majestic ship decoration just beyond an elaborate buffet. Otonashi looked up in the middle of heading in that direction – and immediately stopped in his tracks as he spotted another royal attendant by the buffet. The man seemed to catch his eye at the same time, straightening as if struck with recognition. Pure panic coursed through Otonashi's blood – crap, where had he seen him before?!

Then the man cast him a sly wink, and lifted his green and gold canine cover to reveal a familiar face and a mess of blue hair.

Not just any royal attendant. It was Hinata, Captain of the Royal Guard, and he was coming this way. Otonashi was almost sweating oceans.

"What are  _you_  doing here?" Hinata asked as he met him by the ship, sounding curious and more than a little amused.

Whether by some miracle or letting his guard down, Otonashi was struck with another bolt of courage.

"I need to find Kanade Tachibana!" he insisted. "It's an emergency!"

Hinata's casual grin grew even wider at Otonashi's melodrama. "An emergency, huh?" he said, scratching his hair. Then he chuckled and shook his head. "Yeah, I get it. I guess she is pretty cute." Putting an arm over his shoulder, he made a vague gesture towards the end of the ship. "Over there. White-haired girl with the bird mask and the silvery dress."

Nodding and hardly remembering a thank you, Otonashi willed his legs onward as he felt his heart beat faster. A dove-masked girl with long platinum blonde hair was speaking spiritedly to a bearded gentleman a few strides past the edge of the ship. If he was any sort of coherent, he'd muse more about how much taller and older looking she was than he expected. But right now, he was a bit more focused on planning intelligible words.

After all – he was about to come face to face with the most brilliant young artist alive...

The dove-masked girl turned to him in confusion as he approached, striking his thoughts and his knees into jelly. Otonashi cleared his throat and fought to swallow his nerves, even flash her a disarming smile. He could do this…

"Miss Tachibana!" he exclaimed, and promptly hit the ground in a dead faint.

Not five feet behind him, the real Kanade turned around at the mention.

"Hm?" she said softly, removing her owl mask, and glanced down at the young man lying at her feet. "Oh…"

* * *

Back at the manor, Shiina and Masami were hard at work trying to pick the cellar lock. But even Shiina's sharpest knives and Masami's hair pins could not stand against its stubborn rusty latch. A makeshift key Shiina had whittled only broke from trying, and Masami had to jimmy it loose.

"Ohh," she groaned, pulling it free and tossing it aside in frustration. "Yuri, it's no use!"

"Allow me," came a wispy voice.

As Shiina and Masami turned, startled, a silver-haired girl rounded the corner and drifted gracefully down the cellar stairs in a blue and silver gown, with Otonashi and Matsushita the Fifth following close behind. She paused in front of the door and sized it up, looking back at Otonashi briefly. When he nodded to her, she returned the nod and gestured for the two women to stand aside. They did so, puzzled.

The girl held up her arm, took a breath, and whispered, " _Hand sonic: version two_."

Instantly, in a translucent shimmer of silver and turquoise that matched her gown, a long skinny spear emerged from her dress sleeve. She pulled back her arm and jammed the spear between the crack in the door.

" _Version four_."

The spear glowed and expanded, nearly blasting the door off its hinges in an explosion of splintering metal. It swung open with a reverberating bang, revealing a bewildered Yuri who was luckily hiding near the back among the baskets.

Shiina gawked at the silver-haired girl. "Incredible!"

"That was pure genius!" Masami gasped.

Their guest gave a shy smile. "Yes. I shall go down in history as the girl who opened a door."

A grinning Otonashi ducked into the cellar, his lantern filling the room with light as he led everyone inside. As Yuri stood in wide-eyed disbelief, her devious best friend laughed proudly and gave a mock twirl to model his new look.

"Otonashi!" Yuri rushed into his open arms, too stunned to make fun of him. "How…?"

He shrugged modestly. "Matsushita said the prince was expecting you."

"He's expecting someone who doesn't exist," Yuri reminded him, and turned to her rescuer as her voice cracked in shame. "Kanade, my name is Yuri Nakamura and I am just a servant."

Kanade tilted her head at her, unblinking. "So?"

Yuri almost fell back into the baskets of food. What was with that lack of reaction? Had she  _known?_

"So?" Yuri repeated incredulously. "I've deceived him!"

"It's alright. The prince will understand," Kanade said, her small voice so kind and soothing Yuri could almost believe her. "Hasn't it always been you?"

The girl's optimism was too surreal. Yuri's heart hoped and ached by it. The last time she had taken a chance and been too bold, she had only ended up down here. Would Ayato's reaction be any different?

Masami snagged her wrist and jostled her encouragingly. "Come on, Yuri! The night's still young. Let's get you ready for the ball—"

"I'm not going!" Yuri said stubbornly, ripping her hand away and retreating to a corner.

Shiina cast her a baleful look from the shadows.

"But if you stay," she said sullenly, "the baroness wins."

Yuri faltered at this. What that would mean for all of them... those who had suffered because of Hinami, or would come to suffer if Ayato did marry Hisako... It was up to her to make sure that didn't happen. She felt a comforting hand settle on her shoulder, and turned to see a pair of kind golden eyes shining up at her expectantly.

"How can I face him?" Yuri breathed, her voice thick with guilt.

Kanade took Yuri's hands in hers, her grip surprisingly firm. "Because he deserves to hear the truth from the one he loves."

At last Yuri softened, a weary sigh relaxing her shoulders. "A bird may love a fish, Kanade," she said with a rueful smile, "but where would they live?"

Kanade's eyes twinkled with mirth. "Then I shall have to make you wings."

Choking back tears, Yuri fell into Kanade's arms and hugged her tight, daring to let her smile become genuine as the little angel held her close. No judgment, no hard feelings, just forgiveness and gentle acceptance. Maybe it could really be that easy…

"Hey now, no time to waste!" Masami said, clapping her hands at them. As Yuri and Kanade broke apart, Masami gave the former an encouraging shove towards the injured cellar door. "Mother, get the dress!"

Otonashi, Shiina, and Matsushita quickly surrounded Yuri and escorted her out of the cellar. Masami, beaming with pride for her friend, at once began to follow. She hesitated for a moment, just a moment, as the room emptied and her grin wavered slightly. But then the girl shook her head, as if clearing a thought, and took to the hallway steps.

"And you, miss?" a light inquisitive voice came from behind her.

Pausing halfway up the steps, Masami glanced over her shoulder in surprise. Kanade regarded her with marked interest at the bottom, her expression alight with simple curiosity.

"Is there someone you're meant to meet at the ball?" the angel ventured.

Masami startled, gripping the side of the wall for support. Her cheeks flushed a rosy red as she cut her gaze to the side. A vision clouded her mind, of silver eyes and a pretty smirk, and a sparkling dress she'd seen wrapped in a bundle when the Fukudas returned from market. There was someone, but...

Her face fell. What could she do? Pull her aside while Yuri spoke to the prince - like some sort of diversion? Oh, that'd go over nicely.

It was the crown Hisako wanted. More than she could possibly want Masami, if she ever did. She'd told her as much, and she'd meant it.

Hadn't she?

A stubborn mind like hers could never change – Hinami's influence over the years had been too strong. And Masami was still angry with her. For burning Yuri's book, for standing idly by while her mother tossed her in the cellar like some lowly old dog. The prince surely loved Yuri enough to be swayed, but Hisako... she would never be able to see her as anything more than a servant, or a distraction.

Especially if she showed up in these gray rags.

"No one I currently wish to speak to," Masami responded at last, twisting nervously at her guitar pick necklace. It was all she could do to keep her tone even without her voice breaking. "There's nothing to wear, and nothing to say."

Kanade nodded, a skeptical glint giving way to hope as her gaze shifted. Masami's guitar was resting against the wall adjacent to the cellar. With loving care, Kanade picked it up and examined it thoughtfully.

"But, perhaps," she held the instrument out to her, "something to sing?"

* * *

Hidden away in the refuge of a stone corridor, Ayato watched sullenly from a window as the courtyard came alive with costumes, lights, and jubilation. He didn't see much cause for celebration. Kanade had gone off somewhere… she wasn't even  _here._

And neither was Ehana.

He felt like the biggest fool alive. For the past few days, he'd set his sights blindly on one woman. One vivacious, intelligent woman he might very well have fallen for the moment he saw her screaming at the cargo master. The quoting of  _Utopia,_ the fond memories of her father, the sword fight in the Guild, it had all been enough to make a prince lose his mind in love.

With her cleverness, beauty, and fire, of course she already had someone else. But he would've very much liked to know about it beforehand. Not the night before the masque, after he'd already devoted his heart so completely to her. In  _his_ eyes, there had been no other.

Presently Ayato frowned to himself, sinking against stone with a resigned sigh as his memory served to correct him.

_But then, there had been another…_

"I understand you wanted to see me," King Kimito's voice boomed from nearby, and Ayato emerged from his thoughts with a start. He must've somehow missed the echo of heavy footsteps.

He cleared his throat, turning more fully to face the king. "Yes, Father, I – I did."

Kimito studied him in silence for a moment, his features looking somehow less and more grim in the flickering torchlight. Finally he nodded to his attendants, dismissing them, and came to the window at his side.

"Listen, Ayato," he began, sounding peculiarly hesitant and so unlike himself that Ayato side-eyed him warily. "Perhaps it was… unfair, of me, to put as much pressure on you as I did. About the marriage contract."

He coughed, harrumphing quite a bit as his eyes darted back and forth from his son to the courtyard, before finally settling on Ayato once more.

"I only felt that it was time to make some changes in your life," the king continued. "You were always  _floundering_ , Ayato. You never seemed to adjust to your new role the way I'd hoped. Though," he grunted a begrudging sigh, beetling his forehead, "I… I may have put a few unwarranted expectations on you, after your brother – after his passing."

Ayato stared at him, hardly disguising his bewilderment. What on earth had brought this on? What was this, coming from cold hard Kimito?

"But I think that your university idea is… is a brilliant one."  _Ah yes,_ thought Ayato with some dismal suspicion.  _Pity_.

He was truly so pathetic that  _King Kimito_ felt  _ **pity**_.

Kimito rested a hand on his shoulder. "We don't have to announce anything tonight—"

"I've made my decision," Ayato said coldly. He pulled away from his father's touch and marched towards the courtyard.

There was nothing more to be said, and only one thing to do.

* * *

The doors to Nakamura manor creaked open. With the clack of slippers and a flurry of skirts, a pair of gossamer wings disappeared inside Kanade's carriage, followed by glistening black feathers. Shiina gave Matsushita a nod, and he urged the horses with a flick of the reins. As the carriage rolled into motion, the woman backed away to join Kanade and Otonashi in seeing it off.

Otonashi was still looking on in fond disbelief. It had been truly something to see Kanade's art and ingenuity come alive like that.

"She looks like a masterpiece," he said softly.

Shiina's eyes shone bright with tears. "She looks like her mother."

"Otonashi?"

He turned, jolted at the presence of a hand on his arm, and found Kanade peering up at him intently. With the same round, inquisitive eyes that were the first thing he'd seen when he woke up on the hard ground an hour or so before.  _So embarrassing..._

"Y-yeah?" he stammered.

"I was wondering if you could show me those paintings you mentioned earlier," she said, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear.

Otonashi's ears turned scarlet. "Now?"

Kanade nodded fervently, guiding him along by the arm with a bashful smile. Maybe it was a trick of the moonlight, but she looked a bit pink in the cheeks herself.

"Not many know this about me, but when I was young, I was very ill. My parents believed I did not have long," she confessed as they began to walk back towards the manor together. "As long as you're living in this world, Otonashi, now is all you've got."

It did not escape Otonashi's notice that her small hand had slipped into his…

"Wait," Shiina's voice called sharply to them. She hadn't budged an inch, never tearing her gaze away from the road. "It's tradition."

Kanade and Otonashi backtracked just in time. At that very moment, the carriage rumbled past the gate, and the girls leaned out the window and cast them twin animated waves.

Shiina waved back, a brilliant smile on her face like Otonashi had never seen before. It was so contagious that he and Kanade could not help but wave too.

She was going to make tonight all hers, he could feel it in the air. He expected nothing less from his best friend.

_Knock 'em dead, Yuri,_ he thought with a grin.  _Show him what you're really made of._


	14. Just Breathe

The splendor of the masquerade seemed to have come right out of a fairytale. Cloaked in stars and moonlight, the courtyard came alive with every sort of costume and creature. Stags and does, bulls and wolves, fairies and pirates all came together in a dance amidst candles and torches and fountains as the band played a boisterous, jolly tune.

And Yui's night was actually starting to turn around. After her mother had shooed her off to help sniff out the prince, she'd found a grumpy girl in a cat mask who had happily perked up and traded for Yui's horse helmet. Now, freed of that horrible sweaty prison, she could see well enough through her cute pink-and-gold-trimmed cat mask to locate the buffet.

It was absolutely magnificent. One could almost not see any tablecloth there were so many plates of food. Fish, chicken, mushrooms, rice, soups, potatoes, breads, cheeses, mountains of fruit, and…

Yui's eyes gleamed.  _Bingo._  She made a beeline for the desserts section.

A mouthwatering display of sweets and pastries lay spread out over a smaller second table. Chocolatey castella, sakuramochi, crepes, sata andagi, yatsuhashi, so many delicious possibilities. She happily indulged in chocolates and pieces of castella for a couple of minutes while adding some crepes to her plate.

Presently she was already feeling the sugar rush that Hinami warned her about, but Mother Dearest was too busy snatching up a prince to care what she was up to. What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her. Yui grinned and popped a chocolate-covered strawberry into her mouth.

That's when she saw it. On a  _second_  dessert table in the corner by the wall. A platter with her favorite, taiyaki, seemed to be calling her name.

But – oh no! There was only one left!

With a fearful squeaking gasp that quickly gave way to determination, Yui flew around the table and dived straight for the last taiyaki cake. Another hand reached for it at the same time but she smacked it away.

"Get away, it's mine!" She shoved into him with her shoulder, knocking him aside for good measure.

"What the hell? I had it first!" The jerk stranger rebounded and swiped at it.

"No way, you moron,  _I_ got here first!" Yui pushed his arms away in a frantic windmill motion, not taking her eyes off her prize.

"Only because you knocked me out of the way," he said gruffly. She caught a flash of black, green, and gold apparel in her peripheral vision and was only briefly daunted by the fact that she'd just assaulted a castle attendant. "You know, you shouldn't insult or steal from a royal guard – let alone someone bigger than you!"

Yui cast him a firm sideways glare, undeterred as she hovered protectively over the platter. "Oh yeah? Why not?"

"Because I can do this," he said. Then, reaching over the top of her head, he swiftly grabbed the taiyaki off the platter and held it high in the air.

"Hey!" Yui squealed, and, whirling around, found herself glaring into a pair of mischievous grey-blue eyes hidden behind a gold-trimmed dog mask. She furiously started jumping for it. "Give it back! It's the last one!"

He dodged and held it even higher. "And I won it fair and square!"

"It's my favorite!"

"Mine too! Why should it belong to you?!"

Her reaches proved in vain so she leapt on his back instead, pawing and thumping at his shoulder. "Because I'm a cat!"

"What are you talking about?" he grunted, ducking and trying to deflect her blows. "That doesn't make any sense!"

She successfully yanked the taiyaki out of his thieving paws. "Cats eat fish, stupid!"

One moment she was reveling in her victory, the next he had her thrashing in a tight headlock. "It's not a fish, it's a cake! And you're not a cat, you're just a weird human girl!"

"Then why are you bullying me, you dumb dog?!"

She gnawed at his hand. When he let go with a yell, she leapt at him again and started pulling at his hair. He pushed at her face and she flailed and clawed at his shoulders and chest. It occurred to her in the midst of their wrestling that she didn't have the taiyaki anymore and neither did he. But just as she hesitated at that revelation, the impact of his shoving sent her back a few steps – crushing the rogue sweet beneath her shoe.

He caught the horrified expression on her face, and they both looked down. What was once a luscious, golden brown, heavenly fish-shaped treat, lay in devastating crumbles mushed into the ground.

"This is your fault!" they growled in unison, and pounced at each other again in a fit of blazing vengeance.

Not more than half a minute later, someone cleared their throat.

"Um, you two?" said a familiar male voice. It was none other than the Marquis Ooyama, and he was gesturing to the dessert table. "They refilled the taiyaki platter."

It was then that Yui realized that her all-out brawl, in public, over a  _sweet_ , had been in front of an audience. She blushed intensely and released her grip on the guard's leg just as he freed her from another lock. Straightening up, they both smoothed their clothes and looked awkwardly at each other. All that wrestling had knocked their masquerade masks hilariously askew.

Yui hid a smile at first as they both removed their disguises – but then drew a breath when recognition set in. Shaggy blue hair to go along with those playful grey-blue eyes… she'd just duked it out with none other than the captain of the guard!

He seemed to have come to a similar realization – their fighting had loosened her long pink hair from a half-bun braid.

"Hey, I remember you," Hinata said slowly, breaking into a boyish grin. "You're Yui Fukuda, right? The baroness's daughter." He edged closer, then stopped as his shoe stuck in taiyaki remains. Sheepishly, he ran a hand through his hair. "Heh, uh, sorry about all of that by the way."

"That's okay," Yui said, playing shyly with the cat mask in her hands. She was glad to see the dog mask gone; he was really handsome. "It was actually a lot of fun. I should've let you have it anyway. You were so nice to sneak me those KeyKats, that day in the market."

"Aw, that was nothing…" Hinata looked away, scratching at his collar.

She smiled at him anyway. He didn't need to be so modest – that was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her. Flushing pink, she remembered the new platter of taiyaki and turned back to the table. She reached for one, he reached for the same. Their fingers brushed.

"Um..." Yui giggled nervously. "We can… split this one, if you want?"

He grinned at her. "Sounds good."

Yes, this night was shaping up quite nicely.

* * *

Would this night  _never_ end?

Hisako and Hinami stood in the inner courtyard, the latter having secured them a spot as close to the dais as she could get. Hinami was gossiping merrily with the noble ladies around them about Hisako's brief but lovely dance with the prince, and Hisako was doing the only other thing she'd done all night besides that, which was people-watching.

Prince Ayato had joined his parents on the dais three minutes before, and there was careful whispering between the royals as well as the dancers below. It seemed that the announcement would be made any moment now. Honestly, it was about time too.

It wasn't that the masque was truly a horrible dud of an evening. There was so much magic in the air she could hardly breathe. Such jubilant music, such elegant costumes, so many beautiful dresses of all colors and fashions. Especially blue, and Hisako had pointed that out to her mother when they arrived.

"What did I tell you?" she'd intoned, gesturing subtly to one woman at the far back who was dancing with some grizzly bewhiskered man she didn't recognize. "Not only blue, but the exact same dress. I would've looked like a fool."

And her dance with Ayato, well, Hinami told her with elation that it was the talk of the crowd. Already she had her future subjects' rapt attention,  _so enjoy it darling!_

It was just that her nerves… oh, her nerves were  _killing_ her. People-watching amused her greatly but could only distract her for so long. She'd caught the eye of the queen's rosy-haired lady-in-waiting, who had smiled across the room at her through her peacock mask. Maybe when she moved into the palace the girl would be of some entertainment to her. Hisako wondered absently if she sang.

The thought had soured her evening, as it reminded her of what it had taken to get this far. When she and Ayato shared that dance, it was clear to her that the only something more they shared was common ground. They both had someone else on their mind who wasn't here tonight – servant girls who had distracted them from their goals – and were dancing with each other anyway because they knew what had to be done. Perhaps in that way they really were perfectly matched.

Still… she couldn't shake the thought from her head that if her stepsister was here tonight, the victory would be hers. It would all be over. Everything she and her mother had so meticulously worked towards. The crown would go to Cindersoot, and… and then what?

But she didn't have to worry about that now, Hisako reminded herself. Yuri was no threat to her tonight. Her mother had made sure of that.

A sick uncertainty thickened in her chest at the memory, though she tried to fight it. Yuri usually slept in soot anyway, why should she care? This was what happened when people crossed Hinami. But her mother had just thrown the girl in the cold, damp, dirty cellar and locked the door behind her with little to no hesitation. Simply because she got in the way of Hisako being queen. What if…

What if Hisako herself had gotten in the way?

She couldn't help the nagging doubts that, since the night on the rooftop, had grown ever louder in her head. Now that she had come this close, they were screaming. The path she'd pursued for so long, the path to royalty, was solidifying fast and becoming a real, inescapable option. What if she married Ayato and it wasn't everything she ever wanted? What if Masami was right and she did end up regretting it? She couldn't just divorce a king!

" _Is this really what you want?"_

Whether or not they were part of a filthy trick, Masami's words still ate away at her heart. Was this what she wanted, or… or had it always been about what her mother wanted?

To rule, to be a woman in power like Hinami, the thought had always been so appealing to her. If she was queen, no one could tell her what to do. Not even her mother. It really was ironic how coveting her mother's authority had kept her under her thumb for so long. Being royalty meant freedom and power and finer things, so of course she wanted it.

But… if there was something she wanted more… if she told Hinami she didn't want the crown or what it would cost her, would she even have that choice?

Or was she just as trapped as Cindersoot…

A blare of resounding trumpets jolted Hisako back to the present, and she shut her eyes and willed the thoughts away with a soft shake of her head. It didn't matter anymore. Whatever Masami did feel, it never would've worked out between them.

She would lose the wretched songbird either way – at least with this path she could get a palace out of it.

"This is it, my darling," Hinami whispered. Giggling like a young girl, she grabbed her daughter's hand and squeezed it tight. Hisako made a small acknowledging sound and forced a confident smirk. She may have already died of anticipation three times over.

As the fanfare rumbled to a close, King Kimito took his place beside Prince Ayato and Queen Ayame in the center of the dais and gave a hearty harrumph.

"Friends, honored guests," his raspy voice boomed throughout the courtyard. The Fukudas stood so close to the platform that Hisako could see a grim sort of dullness in his eyes. "It gives us great pleasure, on this festive occasion, not only to honor Miss Tachibana – who seems to have disappeared – but also to tell you of a long-awaited decision."

* * *

Two figures ascended the staircase with slow and careful steps, swaying skirts of silver and ebony caressing the cerise carpet beneath their feet.

As the world opened up into candles and moonlight, and the king's voice drifted to her in an echo, the first figure's movements slowed. Neither of them had planned to make a grand entrance like this. She did not trip or gasp, nor did her body quake in fear. Her only tell was her clenched fists that trembled terribly at her sides.

"Breathe," the one behind her whispered gently, closing her eyes. "Just breathe."

* * *

"So, without further ado," King Kimito continued, "it is my great privilege to announce the engagement of our son, Prince Ayato, to—"

At once, Ayato lurched forward and clamped a hand on the king's shoulder, looking as if he were about to faint. Face sheet white like he'd seen either God or the end of the world. His parents stared at him in a bewildered concern, but soon shifted their gaze to follow his.

A murmuring stirred from the back, and as the shock on Ayato's face melted into a joyous smile, it seemed that everyone behind Hisako was turning to see what had enraptured him so. Curiosity burning away at her unease, she followed the ripple effect just as her mother did. What she saw nearly stole her balance along with the breath in her lungs.

There in the back, standing in front of the entrance and sparkling like a star, was no Cindersoot she'd ever seen in her life. Her heart-shaped face was pristine as porcelain, shimmering not with ash but glitter and studded with small gems. Her carmine-colored hair had been cleared out of her bright green eyes and done up in a braided crown. Silvery translucent wings swept out from the back of her exquisite pearled and silken dress.

And behind her…

Hisako clutched her mother's arm before her legs could give out; oblivious, Hinami squeezed back in simmering sympathy.

Barely eclipsed by Yuri's wing, Masami lingered to her right in a breathtaking gown of billowing skirts and crimped black and maroon fabric. Her shoulders, sharp and angled, fluttered with feathers black and shiny as obsidian. They perfectly matched the tiny black feathers of her delicate half-mask, linked at the bridge of her nose with what looked like golden glitter. Her fuchsia locks were pulled back with a hair pin and a single ebony plume.

Hisako's heart pounded rapidly in her ribcage as her breathing grew ragged. It was impossible…

Hinami had lied to the queen, locked Yuri in the cellar and pocketed the key, done everything in her power to stop this from happening. But Yuri had escaped. Against all odds, she'd broken free of Hinami's prison, transformed into something completely ethereal, and found her way to the masque.

All of this to supplant her? To be queen?

_No…_  she realized, watching Yuri's eyes shine brighter as Ayato leapt from the dais and tore through the parting crowd to greet her.  _Not to be queen._

_To be with the one she loves._

"Well, well, well," Hinami muttered, as Hisako's lip began to tremble. "What have we here…?"

* * *

Yuri swallowed hard past the lump in her throat, digging deep for her courage. Though Masami had her back, and she could see Yui beaming at her from her spot next to Hinata near the buffet entrance, the look of utter relief on Ayato's face as he approached told her she would need all her strength tonight and then some.

Ayato hesitated at the foot of the small staircase, searching her face like he couldn't believe she was really standing there.

"My mother said you were getting married," he said quietly, his golden eyes filled with questions.

"She was… misinformed," Yuri responded, as diplomatically as possible. There was no time to get into Hinami's lies until she unraveled her own. "But there's something I should tell you now before another word is spoken."

"Then you're not engaged?"

Despite herself, she couldn't help but laugh at his one-track mind. "No, I'm not engaged."

Ayato's features relaxed with a soft sigh. Climbing the steps, he took her face in his hands, so gingerly that his thumbs barely grazed her cheekbones, and rested his forehead against hers as he gave a shaky chuckle. "I was about to make the worst mistake of my life."

* * *

King Kimito stared out in confusion at the scene unfolding by the entrance. He'd never seen Ayato this happy in all his life. That is, except for just the other day when the boy bounded into his bedchambers and came up with the university idea.

It was bizarre, but… not unpleasantly so. With her fairy wings and shining face, that young lady there certainly seemed to have his son spellbound.

"Who is she?" he asked aside to Ayame.

The queen breathed a contented little sigh, hands folded over her heart. "My guess would be the Countess Sakurai."

"Is that right…" Kimito mused, rubbing his chin. Then he frowned and looked to his wife. "The who?"

Ayame just giggled as if she were twenty years younger.

* * *

"Come on," Ayato said, his face suddenly alight as he gave her hand a tug. "There's someone I want you to meet."

Yuri pulled back nervously, turning his attention around. She  _really_ hadn't planned on going up in front of everybody, it was supposed to be more discreet than this. Kanade was purposefully going to be absent from the masque for a while so that an honorary piano solo she had planned would be delayed, and then Masami would have the opportunity to play a song and distract everyone as the mysterious masked guitarist while Yuri pulled Ayato aside to reveal the truth in private.

Oh God, that plan had been doomed from the start, hadn't it? Masami had already begun chickening out on the carriage ride there. And then the king was already making the announcement, and…

She cringed. Maybe she wasn't in the position to be making requests here, but discretion couldn't be too much to ask. "Listen, I  _really_ need to talk to you about something—"

"Whatever it is, my answer is yes!" Ayato said eagerly, taking her by the hand as he hastened down the steps.

"No—" Yuri cast a desperate look over her shoulder at Masami, who started to come after her but faltered at the steps. They were moving too quickly across the courtyard, she couldn't just publicly give chase. "Wait, wait, please—"

"Oh, and look over there!" He gestured into the crowd, extremely pleased with himself. "I invited the guildsmen!"

Sure enough, she could see a few familiar faces intermingled with the courtiers. Chaa and his wife smiling at her as she passed, Takamatsu straightening his glasses through his mask, TK still dancing to no music. Fujimaki looked like he'd even made a friend in the Marquis Ooyama. But Yuri's heart barely had time to swell at the incredible gesture as Ayato determinedly escorted her to the front.

Up ahead on the platform, Queen Ayame looked almost as delighted to see her as Ayato. The kindness and pride in her eyes was enough to soothe some of Yuri's nerves, and she clutched tighter to Ayato's hand for strength.

Despite the warning in her heart, maybe she could still get out of this unscathed…

* * *

A prince and a servant, crossing the courtyard hand in hand. His eyes glinting with blissful adoration, her face aglow with nervous happiness. Hisako had never seen anything like it. Maybe it really was possible…

And Masami, still standing there at the entrance looking as she did…

Hinami had seen enough. Taking her daughter's wrist into a vice grip, she dragged her along as she pushed and weaved through the crowd with a purpose. A dangerous expression had darkened her face, her teeth gritted in a treacherous snarl.

"What are you doing?" a shaken Hisako demanded, dazed eyes growing wide at her mother's tightening hold on her.

"Making you a princess!" Hinami seethed.

Hisako could only look on in alarm as the woman lunged out and seized Yuri in her arms, ripping one of the wings clean off her back. The tearing sound, coupled with Yuri's startled cry, echoed loudly through the courtyard.

* * *

"How dare you!" Hinami spat, throwing the wing to the ground in disgust.

Ayato, who'd turned immediately at Yuri's gasp, pulled her back to him protectively and snarled, "Madam, contain yourself!"

"She is an imposter, sire!"

"No!" Yuri begged, feeling her face grow hot and her eyes begin to sting. Oh God,  _please_ not like this! Anything would've been better than this!

The baroness stood tall, shoulders squared importantly and a look of cold indignation in her frosty pink eyes.

"Her name is Yuri Nakamura," she announced loudly to all that might hear, her voice severe and cold as winter's dawn, "and she has been a servant in my house for the past ten years."

The crowd's noise rose to an uproar, the courtiers clamoring to one another behind them as the king descended from the dais.

"A servant, Ayato?" King Kimito shouted to be heard over the rabble. "Is this some kind of joke?!"

Ayato opened and closed his mouth soundlessly, paler than death, before his mortified expression hardened to anger. "Baroness, you are on dangerous ground!" he warned.

Hinami huffed at him, wringing the handle of her gilded mask like a skinny neck.

"Ask her yourself," she sneered, baring her teeth as she eyed Yuri with revulsion. "She's a grasping, devious little pretender and it is  _my_ duty, Your Highness, to expose her as the covetous hoax she is!"

Her breath quaking, Yuri glanced helplessly to Hisako in a desperate search – for compassion, for humanity, for whatever the hell Masami thought she could possibly see in this girl. And indeed there was something. A trace of emotion. Her stepsister, breathing just as heavily, looked genuinely appalled. By her mother, or by her, Yuri couldn't tell for certain.

But by the way she stood silent, and kept staring expectantly at the prince, Yuri was going to guess it was her.

Ayato squeezed her hand tight, prompting her to look at him.

"Tell these women who you are," he said, urging her on with a nervous chuckle. When she said nothing, he forced a grin on his face as if trying to make sense of a bad joke. "Tell them!"

Yuri opened her mouth, but could only manage a shredded breath. The clock overhead began to toll midnight, heavy unforgiving chimes that thudded in her heart and felt like doom.

Everywhere she looked – everyone was watching, glaring, judging. Yui stumbling to the front of the crowd with Hinata at her heels. Daishi Tomita leering at her and swirling his drink. Ayato waiting, pleading for an answer.

Hinami impatiently sliced the air with her mask and pointed it at the prince. "Bow before royalty, you insolent fraud!"

"My God," Ayato said lowly, sounding defeated. "It can't be true…"

Despite all her efforts, this was what did it. A tear crept down her cheek and dripped from her chin as she turned hesitantly to look at him. The light had completely died from his eyes and replaced with a perturbed dullness.

"Ehana?" he tried, and Yuri's heart tore in half.

"Ehana Sakurai was my mother," she managed, her voice cracking like glass between watery breaths. "I am what she says."

Baffled, Ayato turned to Hinami, who gave a slight tilt of her head in a wordless  _I told you so_. He let Yuri's hand fall from his slackened grip. When his gaze returned to her, his eyes darkened with recognition.

"The apple," he said, brows furrowed in disbelief. "That was you?"

Yuri grimaced. "I can explain—"

"WELL SOMEONE HAD BETTER!" King Kimito roared.

"First you're engaged… and now you're a  _servant_?" Ayato said through clenched teeth, each word dripping with contempt. He shook his head and turned to leave, throwing a dismissive wave behind him. "I've heard enough."

Yuri's heart lurched. How could he turn his back on her like that? She couldn't let it end this way. "Ayato,  _please_ —"

Low gasps and mutterings of outrage rippled through the crowd. Ayato froze in mid-step and turned slowly to face her, a shadow cresting over his face.

"Don't you dare address me so informal, madam," he hissed, bristling in fury. "I am the prince of Maeda, and  _you…_ are just like them."

Her face crumpling, Yuri broke into a sob and took off running. Tears and glitter blurred her vision, the courtiers jeered and tsked from the sidelines, but the only thing ringing in her ears were Ayato's piercing final words. She fled past Masami down the entrance steps and into the tunnel, nearly tripping over the guitar left against the stonework. She could hear Masami calling her name but it only made her run faster.

They should never have come. This was her stupidest mistake yet! She should  _never_ have come!

She staggered over the drawbridge by the twelfth chime.

* * *

Hisako swallowed hard as a sobbing, one-winged Yuri flew across the courtyard. The girl pushed past a startled Masami and bolted down the steps, vanishing through the tunnel and into the night.

Masami faltered at the entrance. Turning, she cast one last lingering glance in Hisako's direction. It could've been meant for Hinami but she knew better. She could tell from across the room, she could see those cerise eyes reading her through that crow mask. Hisako opened her mouth but she couldn't say anything, couldn't call to her, couldn't come to her. It was like she was frozen solid to the ballroom floor. All she could do was softly shake her head.

She didn't know what Masami had expected her to do about it. There'd been nothing she could do. Nothing to stop her mother's rampage, especially when everything she said was the truth.

They had both seen what happened here tonight. In the end, some things just couldn't be done.

Even if it looked promising, even if it could have a happy ending, inevitably something or someone would come along and tear down what didn't belong.

Masami gazed at her for what felt like eons, a life age between clock chimes. Then she picked up her ebony skirts and with a swish of her dress she had turned and run, a black and red blur frantically calling Yuri's name.

Frowning, Hisako stared blankly at the spot where she once stood. What was the little songbird even doing here, anyway? It wasn't like Yuri had needed any help embarrassing herself. And even if she did, to take the time to look so… so…

Her shoulders sagged. She looked to her mother, who gave her a discreet smug half-smirk that she feebly tried to return. But her attention was presently fixed on Prince Ayato, who looked just about as miserable as she felt.

_So much for following our hearts, huh?_

* * *

Kanade was just stepping out of her carriage when she heard the crunch of rapid footsteps against gravel and shuddering gasps of breath coming toward her. A woman was absconding from the castle and moving fast, so fast that it was not long before her single shimmering wing became visible as it trembled behind her. As she crossed the drawbridge, she dared to look back at a dark figure in the distance that was giving chase.

A mistake. She tripped over her dress, stumbled, and pitched forward into the dirt. Kanade rushed forward to help her, only to see Yuri pushing herself off the ground with a shuddered sob and staggering to her feet. She looked at Kanade briefly, her tear-streaked face smudged with dirt and faded glitter. Then she choked on an anguished cry and started running faster than ever.

Where she once stood, a lonely glass slipper glinted in the gravel.

"Yuri?" Kanade called to her retreating form. The slipper, the missing wing… her heart ached with worry.

The dark figure in pursuit quickly became Masami Iwasawa, who hurried through the gate in a flurry of black and red skirts. "Yuri!" she shouted after her, breathless and shaking.

Kanade drew nearer, escaping the shadow of her carriage and coming into the moonlight.

"What happened in there?" she asked.

Masami laughed bitterly, her dress billowing in a heap as she knelt to the ground and gingerly picked up the forgotten slipper.

"Oh," she said, her voice thickened with regret. "Oh, wait till you hear it."

* * *

The night sky had begun to rumble with thunder above the palace when, per Hinata's tip, Kanade and Masami found the prince's hiding place in the battlements. He sat with his back pressed against the wall and staring into stone, hardly acknowledging their presence.

"What have you done?" Kanade breathed, her round eyes still muddled with disbelief.

Ayato continued staring listlessly at nothing. "I have been born to privilege and with that comes specific obligations."

"Horse shit!" Masami spat.

Her choice of language made Ayato finally look up. "You are out of line, madam."

"No,  _you_ are out of line!" she shot back. The way he'd behaved back there, she was so angry that she didn't care if he was a prince. He was acting like a child. "Do you have  _any_ idea what that girl went through to get here tonight?"

"She lied to me," he said grimly.

Masami growled and whirled away from him, clutching her forehead in frustration.  _Nobles!_

"She came to tell you the truth," Kanade said, wringing her owl mask mournfully, "and you fed her to the wolves."

Ayato leapt to his feet, his face twisting in a defensive snarl.

"What do you know?" he accused, scowling at them both before jabbing a finger in Kanade's face. "You play with butterflies and you walk on water, but you know  _nothing_ about life."

Kanade looked meaningfully to Masami, then pressed a hand over her own heart. "I know that a life without love is no life at all."

The prince scoffed. "And love without trust? What of that?"

"She's your match, Ayato," she pleaded.

Lips pursed in a thin line, his eyes glowed dangerously before narrowing into slits. The muscles in his jaw seized and trembled with conviction. "I am but a servant to my crown and I have made my decision," he said tightly through gritted teeth. "I will NOT yield!"

Lightning flashed, illuminating the crestfallen look on Masami's face.

"Then you don't deserve her," she said, a broken note lost beneath a crack of thunder. She drew a watery breath and turned on her heel, hurrying for the side staircase.

Kanade began to follow but hesitated after a few steps. Casting a sorrowful glance over her shoulder, she placed Yuri's slipper gently on the ledge. Then she picked up her silver skirts and hastened across the battlements as a raincloud began to open up above their heads.

The raindrops plinked musically against such delicate glass, a siren song Ayato couldn't bring himself to ignore. Drifting to the ledge, he grazed the tiny beads and jewels with a finger, somewhat afraid that if he did anything else it would shatter.

Shatter just like everything else had tonight.

* * *

"Come along now, darlings," Hinami said loftily, leading her daughters down the entrance steps to the tunnel. "We've certainly had our fun, now it's time to beat this dreadful weather."

Hisako sighed, not even having to check behind her to know that Yui was probably saying goodbye to her little boyfriend for the thousandth time.

_Ugh, talk about puppy love…_

But what a corny joke. She was embarrassed after just thinking about it. Oh, Masami would be proud…

Then she slowed to a stop inside the tunnel. Out of the corner of her eye, she'd noticed something oddly familiar leaning against the stonework. She turned around and walked over to it as if in a trance. The rain was picking up and trickling through the cracks of the vine-covered trellis but she didn't care. Her hand flew to her mouth as the shadows lifted and recognition struck.

Masami's guitar.

Hisako fell to her knees in front of it and ran her fingers over the lovingly polished wood. Blood thrummed in her cheeks as the pieces fell together.

_That's why…_

Her eyes welled with tears. She barely made sense of her mother's bark of  _will you please keep up_ as she wrapped the instrument in a protective embrace, shielding it from the pouring rain.

_Oh, songbird._

* * *

The wind and rain, harsh and unforgiving as anything else on this wretched night, had torn Yuri's remaining wing to shreds by the time she finally reached the gate to Nakamura manor. Her wrapped braid had come undone, her hair and dress drenched and sticking to her skin. She'd taken off her other slipper during her escape so now her feet were mud-soaked and bloody.

Weeping and shivering, she was a pitiful sight as she dragged herself to the front doorstep. She was about to knock but halted her fist in mid-air. How could she wake Matsushita and Shiina up just to see her like this?

She sank to the ground with a gasp, frozen hands clasped against her aching chest. Her lungs burned from running for miles, and she coughed on a ragged sob. The ice cold rain drizzled down her forehead, washing away the last of her mask.

It was done. Everything was ruined. She'd been so stupid to think it could've gone any other way.

Ehana Sakurai was dead, and Countess Sakurai had never even existed.

But her ghost haunted those steps late into the night, her inconsolable cries fading to the roaring thunder.


	15. Fukuda Solves Her Problem

 

When the dawn came with the rooster's crow the next morning, Yuri was already back in the place she'd always belonged – painstakingly tending to the fields behind her father's manor. Back where it all began. Her forehead dripped with sweat as she dug her spade deep into the soil, which was soft and lush from last night's rain. When she wiped it away, she could see little flecks of glitter on her knuckles mixed in with the dirt and soot. She shook her head and thrust the spade in deeper, giving the blade a frustrated kick.

"I have it on good authority," came a haughty voice from above, "that before your…  _deliciously_  scandalous debut, the prince was about to choose Hisako to be his wife."

Yuri bit back a snarl and a sigh. It was Hinami of course, more than likely hovering on the crest of the terrace with her arms crossed, but she didn't want to give her the satisfaction of even one glance. The only thing she was really missing out on was the complacent smirk on the woman's ever-painted lips, but it was already right there in her tone.

She threw down her spade and scooped up the basket of greens at her feet, doing her best to ignore the woman as she walked up the incline to the manor.

"Men are so fickle, aren't they?" Hinami crooned, giving a rich snort. "One minute they're spouting sonnets, and the next you're back to being the hired help." Leaning out over the ledge, she rested her chin in her hand as she considered Yuri with an arched brow. "Although, I have to say, I've never seen you quite this dedicated to your chores."

Yuri clenched the basket handle so tightly in her grip she could almost give herself splinters, her dirt-smeared knuckles turning white. "What makes you think I do any of this for you?"

"Well, my, my, my!" Hinami moved to block her path as she rounded the corner, forcing Yuri to look dully into the face of her latest nightmares. "Aren't we the feisty one this morning?"

"Let me pass."

The baroness set her hands on her hips, unmoving. "You brought this on yourself, you know."

Yuri glared past her. "I have work to do."

"Let the others handle it."

Fed up, Yuri shoved past her stepmother and escaped through the shrubs. What was she even  _doing_ out here, did she wake up early just to gloat?! Hadn't she already had her moment? Her face was the last thing Yuri wanted to see right now, especially so early in the day.

"Don't you get it?" she snapped, whirling around once she'd cleared her irritating obstacle. "You've won! Go, move into your palace! And leave us be!" She stormed towards the front of the house, grumbling under her breath, "The manor will be better off without you. It always was."

Indignant, Hinami quickly trailed her like the worst kind of shadow. " _You_ are not my problem anymore."

Yuri stopped in her tracks, muffling the pang in her heart with a bitter laugh.

"Is that what I am? Your  _problem?_ " Her voice tremored with quiet disbelief, and she threw the basket to the ground. "I've done EVERYTHING you've ever asked of me! And still you can't find it in your heart to give me the only thing I ever wanted!"

"And what is that, pray tell?" Hinami asked.

Yuri scoffed, shaking her head – at the baroness, and at herself.

"What do you think?" she said, wiping at her eyes, and winced at the sting from the dirt beneath her fingernails. "You're the only mother I have ever known."

Hating herself for wondering, but goaded on by the curiosity that smoothed Hinami's brow, Yuri heaved a sigh and asked the one question that had haunted her for all these years.

"Was there a time, even in its smallest measurement," she ventured softly, "that you loved me at all?"

Hinami gave her a blank stare. "How could anyone love a pebble in their shoe?"

Drawing a sharp breath, Yuri closed her eyes and nodded in defeat. What more was there to expect from her, after all… She swallowed her pain and turned back to the house. Matsushita and the Iwasawas were her only family now. And really, that should be enough…

Speak of the devil. A breathless Masami came flying to the ledge that hung above their heads, her face bright with joy.

"Yuri! Fukuda-san!" she called down to them. "You're going to want to see this! It's back – all of it!"

This had to be good, especially if it cheered up Masami after the night they'd had. The girl had been despondent ever since she realized she left her guitar at the masque. Picking up her basket, Yuri hurried around the corner and followed her friend along the side of the house. And yet again her basket fell from her grip, vegetables spilling at her feet.

Parked in front of the manor were two wagons, heavy-laden with all her father's precious valuables. Bookcases, paintings, wooden chests, rocking chairs, tapestries… Two men carried in a crate of silver cups and platters, with Shiina hovering protectively about and barking orders to be careful.

In the center of it all stood none other than Daishi Tomita, rubbing his gloved hands like he'd been waiting for her.

"Ah, Tomita-san," Hinami sang, prancing up behind Yuri. "You're right on time."

"It's all here, Baroness. Right down to the very last candlestick."

Just hearing his voice made Yuri feel dirty, but the sight of his lackeys unloading everything from his carts made her stomach churn twice over. She looked to Hinami in fuming incredulity. "My father's books, his paintings – you sold them to HIM?!"

"Yes, and now they're back," Hinami said with a shrug. "I won't have us looking like paupers when the king arrives."

Yuri swallowed back the resentful bile that burned her insides like poison. It was enough to see Masami happily handing the old tapestry off to Shiina and turning to help Matsushita lower the lakeside painting from a cart. Shiina used to say it was her mother's favorite.

Everything was back now – that was all that mattered.

"Thank you, Tomita-san," she managed through her teeth. "This means the world to us."

Tomita licked his lips. "I'm a businessman, Yuri. Not a philanthropist."

She stared at him dully, confused and unimpressed by his usual cryptic creepiness. "I don't understand."

"Oh, Tomita-san here has agreed to help me get rid of a few distractions," Hinami answered for him. "I simply couldn't have you around tempting the prince, you see."

"So the baroness and I have come to an arrangement," said Tomita, and gestured behind him. "You, for all of this."

Hinami clapped her hands giddily. "You know, I do believe I'm getting the better end of the deal!"

Yuri's numb horror exploded into panic as two pairs of powerful arms locked around hers and started dragging her towards the wagons, their grip digging tighter as she struggled. "No! NO!"

She punched and clawed and bit between screams – they couldn't take her without a fight! Whatever misery she had experienced last night, or in the last ten years, the fate that awaited her at Tomita's castle would be a hundred times worse.

"Yuri!" Masami shouted, dropping the last chair at the door and running to stop them. "Fukuda-san, you can't let them do this!"

The baroness coldly lifted a brow at her, then shared a secretive smile with Tomita. Nodding, he turned to his men and snapped his fingers at them twice while pointing to Masami.

"I know it was you at the masque as well, you traitorous little crow," Hinami sniffed, placing her hands on her hips. "'Open this door and you'll wish you never set foot in this house,' those were my exact words. Yet you escorted her to the ball yourself in what was  _clearly_ a stolen dress. I won't stand for it." She looked on in cool satisfaction as another two men came up behind a stricken Masami and grabbed hold. "Take her. Take them both, and get them off my property."

"No!" Shiina shrieked, flying from the doorstep with Matsushita at her heels.

"Yuri! Masami!"

"LET GO OF THEM!"

Shiina was as ruthless as she was quick, and though Matsushita wasn't as strong as he used to be, he could still knock a man to the ground. But Tomita's lackeys outnumbered them, cutting them off and shoving them back while the others hauled Yuri and Masami kicking and screaming into the cart.

As the girls thrashed in vain against their captors, a flash of movement above their heads made Masami do a double-take.

Hisako. Standing there in front of the second floor window in her nightgown and disheveled hair like the screams had rudely woken her from a good sleep. Wide-eyed and clutching the window frame as she looked down on the scene.

_Always, always looking down on her…_ Masami's will to fight faltered; she glared back in broken disbelief.

Her hesitation caught Yuri's attention and startled her into a lull, an opportunity the men took advantage of. They tossed the girls inside like bags of flour and climbed in with them, blocking their escape route until the door locked shut and the wagon started rolling away from the manor. Away from their home.

When the rickety old wagon carried them through the gate, no one would be waving goodbye.

* * *

Stumbling down the steps, Hisako bolted out the front door just as the wagon was rounding the corner. Her heart was thundering in her ears and she nearly doubled over to catch her breath.

If she had been a moment later, she'd have missed the one last horrified look of betrayal Masami shot her before she and Yuri disappeared beyond the trees.

"Mother," she choked out, "what have you done?!"

"What, sold half of our servants?" Hinami gave an innocent shrug, then whirled towards the manor with a swish of her skirts. "There will be plenty of them waiting for us at the palace."

Hisako stared after her incredulously, and hurried to the corner as the wagon rumbled past the gate.

_Not like them,_ she realized, clutching a tree for support.  _Not like her._

* * *

Not more than two weeks later, the day of reckoning arrived, a day the baroness Hinami Fukuda had been greatly anticipating ever since before Yui could remember. The day of Prince Ayato's wedding. And she'd never seen her mother look so devastated.

Hinami was dressed all in black, a thin veil shrouding the grim expression on her face as she watched the front doors creak open. Beside her, Hisako stared numbly ahead, looking as if she were miles away from this place.

For the bride who stepped gracefully through the threshold, wavy auburn hair hidden beneath a sparkling white veil, was Princess Nagisa of Toba.

Prince Ayato had announced the engagement just last week, and in that time, Yui had heard a whole lot about his betrothed. She was said to be adorable and very sweet, delicate of body but strong of spirit, protected and cherished by her parents and much beloved by her kingdom.

So why did Ayato, standing dutifully at the altar, look like a man awaiting his own execution?

The hopeless romantic in Yui wondered if it was partially for the same reason she was so sad right now. She loved weddings, despite how wistful they made her feel, but she just couldn't fully appreciate this one. All it did was remind her of the masque. Nothing had been the same at the manor ever since…

She couldn't even bear to think of it. Of the empty spot by the hearth. Of the deafening silence coming from the rooftop at night. Of the grief on Shiina's face as she served breakfast alone. Even Hisako couldn't seem to look the woman in the eyes. Yui had found Masami's guitar in her sister's room and now carried it everywhere in mournful protest.

Except Hinami had drawn the line at her bringing it into the church. But Yui had entrusted it to Matsushita the Fifth, and instead she listened to the choir's haunting trill as the bride drifted down the aisle escorted by her ladies in waiting.

Yui had heard something else about Nagisa too – the princess was also very emotional. Sure enough, she could hear Nagisa softly crying as she passed.

But that wasn't the weird part. It was her wedding. Yui would cry too if she was getting married today. It was the  _way_ she was crying. They weren't happy tears, not at all, not the soft weeping of a bride who had been dreaming of this day since she was a little girl too short for her mother's wedding dress. This was quiet sniffling and breathless sobs, shuddering with heartbreak and growing louder with each slow step.

It was as if Nagisa knew, full and painfully well, that this royal wedding was even more tragic than it was beautiful.

The kings and queens stood as she approached the altar, King Akio of Toba staring sternly on while Queen Sanae closed her eyes at the sound of her daughter's tears. Most of the Toban courtiers carefully masked any reaction to their princess's grief, save for one guy who stood out to Yui in some way. He carried himself in his elegant attire with a certain uneasiness, and his shaggy mane of dark hair fell in front of his eyes as he quickly glanced away from the bride, unable to bring himself to look at her for too long.

The choir's song died out when Nagisa reached the altar and joined Ayato at his side. And then it was all anyone could hear – her bitter, choked sobbing that echoed through the wedding hall even as the officiant tried to chant a prayer.

Hinata, who was standing by the Maedan king and queen's dais next to Kanade, caught Yui's gaze at that moment and raised his eyebrows at her. She smiled back sympathetically. The poor princess was bawling her eyes out.

The officiant managed to finish the introduction despite Nagisa's tears, and looked to the rigid and clearly uncomfortable Ayato.

"Ayato, do you take Nagisa…"

"Please," Nagisa whispered weakly.

"…in sickness and in health, to love, to honor and to serve…"

"Please, no…"

"…to be your wife, until death do you part?"

Nagisa erupted into fresh sobs, collapsing to the ground with her face buried in her hands. She was crying so hard she was hyperventilating. Ayato, who had barely even opened his mouth to answer, abruptly closed it and stared down at her in astonishment. Curiously he knelt beside the princess and lifted her veil, revealing a face round and sweet as a peach but streaked with tears.

"I'm – I'm so sorry, P-Prince Ayato!" Nagisa gasped through her blubbering and coughed sobs. "B-but please don't marry me!"

She glanced anxiously over her shoulder, not quite catching the startled look that flickered on his face. From what Yui had seen, it wasn't as much offense as it was intrigue, and… mild amusement?

"You're—you're very handsome! A-and I'm sure you're kind and brave and strong too! And – and anyone would be lucky to be your bride," Nagisa said hastily, clutching his wrists in her desperate plea, or a means to steady herself through her weeping. "But I – I can't, I can't do this! I can't honestly—"

Ayato began to laugh. Rich snorts and chuckles at first that burbled into uncontrollable fits of cackling laughter. Hinami quickly raised her veil, looking terribly interested, while Queen Ayame blushed a disapproving scarlet and King Kimito began to get up from his throne.

"Why are you laughing at me?" Nagisa asked, visibly too shocked to be hurt.

Ayato only shook his head as his laughter finally died down. Grinning from ear to ear, he looked earnestly into the wide tearful eyes of his betrothed.

"Nagisa," he said grandly, "I know  _exactly_ how you feel."

With that, Ayato grasped Nagisa's arms and brought her to her feet, then turned and gestured into the crowd with a nod. Nagisa let out a delighted gasp and scampered down the steps, nearly stumbling over the train of her veil.

"Tomoya!" she cried out breathlessly. "Tomoya!"

The brooding shaggy-haired guy, stunned but just as elated, rushed to meet her in the middle and was promptly knocked off balance as Nagisa crashed into his awaiting arms. He recovered instantly and swept her off her feet, swinging the princess around in an overjoyed embrace.

As Hinami sobbed with relief and threw her arms around a wide-eyed Hisako, the Toban king leapt up in outrage. "OKAZAKI? Who the hell let that little good-for-nothing sneak into a royal wedding?! NAGISA, I ALREADY TOLD YOU THAT YOU CAN'T MARRY THAT PUNK!"

"Akio, I don't think you can keep those two away from each other," his queen said calmly, though there was emotion glistening in her eyes. "It was silly to try. Maybe we should just let Nagisa follow her heart."

"What?! Sanae, he's a commoner – a total lowlife! He comes from nothing!" King Akio roared. "How can you expect me to let my daughter turn down a prince for a no-account smartass?"

"Because that is the one your daughter truly loves. And true love transcends station," Queen Sanae said firmly. Then she smiled fondly at her husband. "Really now, Akio. If I had been just a baker's daughter selling my bread, wouldn't you have married me anyway?"

The king chuckled. "Maybe not if I'd tried your bread first," he said under his breath.

Or so he thought. The quip resounded through the wedding hall.

Queen Sanae's eyes grew wide and then shimmered bright just like her daughter's. She sniffled in disbelief.

"Are you saying you would've spurned me because of my pastries?" Queen Sanae whimpered dejectedly. She covered her face and dashed from the dais in a fit of tears. "This really is only a marriage of convenience!"

"Wait!" King Akio shouted, reaching into a royal attendant's basket and stuffing his mouth with crunchy-looking bread. Racing down the aisle after his wife, he yelled to her with his mouth still full and spewing crumbs. "I'd love you and your pastries in any lifetime, baby!"

King Kimito fell back into his throne, howling with laughter. Next to him, even Queen Ayame was doubled over in a giggle fit.

"And I thought I had problems," Kimito muttered to his wife. She wheezed back in reply, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Ayato—" the queen started to say.

But he was gone. Yui had spotted him untying and throwing off his cloak amidst the chaos, and then striding towards the side door with Hinata following close behind. By now, the prince and his captain had only just slipped outside – and Yui was antsy and itching to follow. She glanced to her mother, who was now firmly grasping Hisako by the shoulders.

"Second chances are real, my darling," Hinami whispered, beaming with a radiant happiness. "This is yours, so take it. Go find the prince. Your true love awaits."

Hisako nodded, looking rather dazed, and without another word she disappeared into the milling crowd. Yui watched her go for a second before darting off in the direction Hinata and the prince had left.

After all, she was the smaller and faster of the two. And she knew who he was really looking for.

* * *

Hinata, for some reason, fell behind on the way out of the church, but Ayato didn't care as he sprinted into the street. Well, he cared a little. He could've actually put the idiot to use since he had a knack for knowing the who and where of people (a talent that had ruined Ayato's escape attempts day after day), and Ayato wouldn't have almost run a block past a familiar face before skidding like an imbecile and rounding back.

It was that servant – the tall, burly man from the prison wagon, standing atop what must be the Baroness Fukuda's carriage. He didn't think he could ever forget that day, let alone a person of that stature.

"Where is she?" he pleaded. Now that a burden had been lifted off his shoulders, he didn't want to waste another moment.

The man squinted at him. "The baroness?"

"Eh—" Ayato caught himself with a slight frown, and pursed his lips. "Y…Yuri."

The driver's furrowed brow smoothed over with startled sympathy, and he gaped soundlessly at him for a moment before blurting, "She's been sold, sire!"

Ayato recoiled, his breath tripping painfully over the fear that gripped his heart in a chokehold.

"Sold?" he repeated in a not so princely squeak. And here he'd been so preoccupied with formulating the most dignified apology...! "But to whom?"

"Daishi Tomita, Your Highness!" Yui said, appearing at the side of the carriage with a grim-faced Hinata.

"Just after the masque," came another voice from behind the carriage, one that caught Yui and Hinata off-guard. As the two of them turned in surprise, Hisako rounded the carriage and approached the group in determined strides. "And Masami Iwasawa as well."

Masami – yes, he remembered the name, and could put it to a face. Hisako had spoken heavily of her that day in the marketplace after she'd thrown a chicken at his head. She must've been the crow that had come with Yuri. And the baroness sold them both to that despicable old pervert?!

The thought of Tomita putting his hands anywhere near Yuri made Ayato growl and grasp the hilt of his sword. On top of that, for Hinami Fukuda to sell her – to sell  _two young women_ – to a known debaucher?

"I'm going after her," Ayato said determinedly. He narrowed his eyes at Hisako. "Your mother is a real piece of work, you know that?"

"Of course I know that. She'd do anything to get what she wants," Hisako said with a scoff, crossing her arms over her chest. "Did  _you_ know that one of your page boys accepts bribes from her in exchange for inside information? He once stole the queen's necklace for her so that I could 'find' and graciously return it."

Yui's mouth fell open, shocked at her sister's candor. She and Hinata shared bewildered glances, the latter's a bit more pointedly concerned.

"That is a serious accusation to make," Ayato warned.

"You saw her at the masque, you know what she's capable of," Hisako said firmly. "She's been treating Yuri like that for years. And I've played my part, but…" She briefly averted her eyes, but when she returned them to Ayato's, they were sharp as a carving knife and much more purposeful. "But I've only scratched the surface. So take me with you. Get me away from her, and I'll tell you everything."

Ayato hesitated, more than a little dumbfounded as he was still trying to process everything. Finally he managed to find his voice. "May I ask, Hisako, what compelled you to tell me all of this?"

"Yeah, you're Mother's favorite!" Yui insisted, gawking at her sister. "What is up with that change of heart?"

Hisako spared Yui a moment's glance, then looked resolutely back to Ayato. "Let's just say you're not the only one who's in love with a servant."

Gasping, Yui squealed in delight and smacked at her shoulder excitedly. "I KNEW IT!"

Ayato regarded Hisako with renewed interest as realization dawned on him, then gave her and Hinata a nod. "Come on then, you two. There's much to be done."

The younger Fukuda made an unhappy sound as Hinata left her side to join Ayato. "I want to rescue them too!"

"Stay, Yui," Hisako ordered, climbing out of the carriage with something slung over her shoulder – a beautiful wooden guitar. "If we're both missing it'll look suspicious. You're smart, so I'm counting on you to come up with an excuse for why I'm gone."

"But tell no one we have spoken," Ayato warned, "for all will reveal itself soon enough."

With Yui begrudgingly placated by Hisako's pseudo-compliment, Ayato bid her and the driver a conspiratorial nod of farewell, then pivoted sharply and headed for his nearest horses. Hisako's and Hinata's footsteps followed quickly after.

Hinami Fukuda would get what was coming to her. But the baroness could wait; the consequences of his own wrongdoings could not.


	16. My Match In Every Way

The halls of Castle Tomita were dead silent, save for the grating of shackles against stone as Yuri trudged to the library with a bundle of swords in her grip. Taking a deep breath, Yuri shifted the weight of the bundle on one arm and knocked dully against the door.

"Enter," came Tomita's hearty rumble.

She did so, keeping her eyes down and hoping he was busy enough to ignore her as she would him. But it was nearly impossible when she jingled with every step like a collared cat. Her teeth gritted as he stood from his seat.

"I do hate to see you in irons," he said, rounding the desk and meeting her at the center table. He twiddled a small black key in his fingers. "I'd remove them, if only you'd promise not to run away again."

Yuri dropped the swords on the table, a part of her that was not yet dead coolly admiring the gold filigree in the swords' handles. Such beautiful weaponry, wasted on a person like him. "I have no reason to stay."

Tomita hummed thoughtfully, still playing with the key and proudly studying it as if it were also made of gold.

"Well that's not quite true, is it?" he purred, holding it up to the light. "You know, you could very well have made it out last night – had you not stopped to free your friend first."

She pretended not to hear him, investing her attention in arranging the blades and smoothing out the burlap, but it was difficult to hold back a scowl. He said that like it was supposed to be her weakness. She didn't care how far she would have gotten, or what kind of hell this new life would turn into with each passing day, she wasn't leaving here without Masami. That part of her heart was not yet so numb.

But Masami, the girl barely even sang anymore...

"Not that it matters anyway," Tomita noted, breaking her out of her thoughts. "You belong to me now."

"I belong to no one." Yuri continued arranging the swords, untangling a few by their locked hilts. "Least of all you."

He ran his finger along the table as he rounded the corner, looking mildly satisfied to see not a speck of dust on his fingerprint. "Yuri, Yuri, Yuri," he tsked, and gave an impatient sigh. "When  _are_ you going to reconsider my offer?"

So self-assured. It wasn't flattering at all, and neither was his  _offer_. No reprieve from any grueling tasks he'd assigned her out of wounded spite would ever be worth that. The rocks at the bottom of the castle's cliff looked so much more appealing.

"I would rather rot," she said simply, and made a move for the exit.

Tomita stepped easily into her path, stroking her sleeve as he regarded her like a snake sizing up a live mouse.

"I had a horse like you once," he mused, breathing whiskey and poison in her face. "Magnificent creature. Stubborn just like you, and willful to a fault."

The smell of musk and smoke was so thick she had to turn away in disgust. For all the good it did her. Tomita leaned forward, his hot breath making the hair on the back of her neck prick up as he whispered in her ear.

"It too just needed to be…  _broken_."

Yuri clenched her fists, struggling to steady her heartbeat as she felt his spindly fingers in her hair. "Get away from me."

Tomita mumbled happily into a handful of her hair. He pressed closer to her and inhaled her scent. "Hmm, you didn't say please…"

While he  _distracted_ himself, her fingers felt blindly behind her until they grasped the hilt of his dagger. Unsheathing it with a satisfying hiss of metal, she whirled around and pressed the tip of the blade to his precious goatee.

"Please," she hissed, lifting his chin and forcing him to meet her eyes.

Despite himself, Tomita flashed her a cold smile. "Were the chains not enough?" he asked innocently. "I could wrap a noose around that pretty neck."

"Or I could slit your throat first," Yuri said sweetly.

Meanwhile, she couldn't see any rope, but she could damn well shave his handlebar mustache right now if she so pleased.

Tomita's beady black eyes glinted with desire. "I do love your spirit—"

He smacked Yuri's hand away and lunged at her, but she'd known she would have to be quick. Dodging, she shoved him back and slashed at his face. Blood spurted from his cheek, and he staggered and fell back into a chair with a trembling hand pressed against the wound. It was enough time for Yuri to grab one of the swords from the table and point it at his chest.

"My father was an expert swordsman, Tomita-san. He taught me many of his tricks," Yuri said with a grin, twirling the dagger in her hand. With the other, she gestured with her sword to the key still clutched in his grimy fingers. "Now hand me that key or I swear on his grave I'll show you Shiina's very favorite." To give him a general idea, she swept the sword's point down his chest, past his navel, and still further… and then all the way back up to his nose.

Tomita's Adam's apple bobbed nervously as his tongue flicked at the blood that dripped from his cheek. Shakily, he presented the key to her.

"Your freedom, my lady."

* * *

Ayato, Hinata, and Hisako charged through the front gates of the Tomita estate with a host of royal guards at their call. If those at Tomita's employ cared much, they did not show it, and promptly went back to work.

What a dreary place. It smelled of drink and waste and six different flavors of smoke, and the air looked dull and murky as if thickened with ash. A home fit for Tomita, to be sure. Ayato didn't want to find Yuri in a place like this.

But find her he must, so they kept riding.

As they followed the path to the castle, the stench got worse. He could see idly burning fires and piles of rubble, and a couple of cracked windows as well. And closer still, he could hear a faint sound coming from inside.

" _...kao o awashitara kenka shite bakari,  
sore mo ii omoide datta…"_

"Wait," said Hinata, slowing his horse and scratching his head. "Do you hear someone singing?"

Hisako's eyes widened as if he'd said the magic word. She gave her horse a light kick and galloped ahead of the group, following the sound of the song. Trusting that same feeling, Ayato took off after her.

" _kimi ga oshietekureta nda mou kowaku nai  
donna fujiyuu demo shiawase wa tsukameru dakara…"_

The song floated in and out through the windows like a lost butterfly. It sounded melancholy at first, in a way, but became stronger and more confident as it grew louder. Ayato urged his horse on; he did not know what it meant, only that he needed to follow.

" _hitori demo yuku yo tatoe tsurakute mo  
kimi to mita yume wa kanarazu motteku yo…"_

Dismounting the moment she reached the castle gate, Hisako adjusted the guitar on her back and moved briskly across the courtyard with a purpose. Hinata and Ayato exchanged glances before swiftly descending from their horses as well.

Just ahead, the doors to Castle Tomita opened with a loud groan.

_"kimi to ga yokatta hoka no dare demo nai  
demo mezameta asa kimi wa inai nda ne…"_

Yuri and Masami emerged from the castle covered in dirt and ash, their faces aglow with sweat and smiles. No chains, no shackles, only a sweet song that filled the open air. Yuri took one last look at their former prison and broke into a proud grin.

Ayato was mesmerized. Even now, he couldn't believe he'd never seen it before – the mischief, the pride, the strong will. This was his apple girl, and somehow she was even more beautiful than ever.

As the women noticed them from across the courtyard, Yuri's grin faded right along with Masami's song. A desolate silence replaced it, whistling winds piercing at the ghosts of the fallen melody. Ayato strode more quickly to get to her; he couldn't stand the way she was looking at him now.

The four of them met in the middle, awkwardly appraising one another.

"What are you doing here?" Yuri demanded.

Masami raised a similarly critical eyebrow, taking in Ayato's attire and then Hisako's. "Are you two married already?"

Ayato and Hisako shared a frown. "No, we came to rescue you."

"Rescue us?" Yuri echoed with a scoff. "Lowly commoners?" She pushed past him and headed for the gate, with a sheepish Ayato trailing after her.

Hisako watched them go, honestly kind of amused at how besotted the prince was with her stepsister. Her smirk vanished as she turned her head to see Masami staring at her with her arms folded. Recovering, Hisako slid the guitar strap from her shoulder.

"You left this. At – at the masque," she said, trying to be gentle as she presented her with the instrument. "I was going to give it to you the next morning, but…"

Masami's stony expression caved to that of relief, if for only just a moment. She took the guitar into her arms as carefully as a mother would receive her infant child, and swiftly reverted to her mask of steel when she looked back up.

"I swear I didn't know," Hisako said quickly, as Masami slung the guitar over her shoulder. "I didn't know she was going to do that. I mean I guess I should have known, she sold Matsushita, I know what she's capable of, but I – I didn't have time to think—"

"Hisako." Masami's voice grew soft. "Why did you come?"

She smiled weakly, shrugging. "Someone caged the songbird. I had to let her out."

Looking unimpressed, Masami adjusted her guitar strap and started walking towards the gate. "Yuri already took care of it. So if that's all…"

"I have an answer for you," she blurted out.

Masami turned around, looking appropriately confused. "What?"

"That night, on the roof," Hisako persisted, composing herself with a lingering blush. "You asked me if it was what I really wanted. And I was… I was too afraid to give you an answer." She took a step forward. "I don't have anything to be afraid of anymore."

Masami's breath caught, but she approached a step all the same.

"And – and your answer?"

Gathering her courage, Hisako reached out and took Masami's hands in hers.

"I want the same as you," she said bravely, releasing a deep breath. "Your beloved songs, that's all." Looking into her eyes, she let a smile touch her lips. "And to spend the rest of my life with the woman I love. If you'll have me."

Ruby eyes sparkling with joy and unshed tears, Masami nodded softly and laughed as she cradled Hisako's face.

"How could I sing my songs without my muse?" she murmured.

* * *

Ayato followed after Yuri as she trudged among the crumbled stonework.

"Actually, I - I came to beg your forgiveness," he said hastily, watching her retreating figure. "I offered you the world, and at the first test of honor, I betrayed your trust." She dusted her hands off on her smock, as if pretending not to hear him. "Please, Yuri."

Her strides slowed. "Say that again."

Ayato grimaced. "I'm sorry—"

" _No_ ," she said impatiently, turning to face him at last. "The part where you said my name."

The corners of his mouth curved into an understanding grin.

"Yuri." He'd said it only once aloud before, but it felt lyrical on his lips. And it made her eyes glow with a happiness like sunlight in this dreary place, so he would say it a thousand times if she asked. Closing the distance between them, he retrieved the glass slipper from his coat pocket. "Perhaps you'd be so kind as to help me find the owner of this rather remarkable shoe?"

Yuri drew a sharp breath, gazing at it in awe. "Where did you find that?"

"She is my match in every way." Ayato said, looking firmly into her eyes. "Please tell me I haven't lost her."

Her lower lip began to tremble, and despite all her efforts he'd seen her tearing up before she muffled a half-sob and turned away. "It belongs to a peasant, Your Highness," she choked out, sinking unceremoniously onto the stonework, "who only pretended to be a courtier to save a man's life."

"I know." He glanced over his shoulder with a brief appreciative nod to Hisako, whose attention was decidedly compromised so he quickly looked away. "And it's  _Ayato_ , if you don't mind."

Yuri looked up at him, her skepticism giving way to curiosity when he knelt in front of her.

"I kneel before you, not as a prince, but as a man in love." Ayato presented her with the slipper, asking a silent question. When she gave a breathless nod, he gingerly removed her leather shoe and replaced it with glass. "But I would feel like a king if you, Yuri Nakamura, would be my wife."

The tears Yuri had been battling now spilled in rivulets down her rosy cheeks, but it was with laughter that she sobbed as she leapt into his embrace. Ayato picked her up and twirled her in his arms as they kissed, holding fast to his fiancée.

He had finally found her, the real her, and this time he was never letting go.

* * *

Back at Nakamura manor, Yui was sitting in the dining room helping herself to some sakuramochi while her mother drummed her fingernails rhythmically on the wood of the table.

"Yui, I'm waiting," Hinami said sharply. "We're home, we're away from prying eyes and ears, you've had your dessert. Now tell me what you know. It had better be good."

Yui hid a smile through bites of sakuramochi. When Hinami had finally come to the carriage and found Hisako missing, Yui had bought quite some time by deflecting her questions with the insistence that it was a big juicy secret she didn't want to share in front of nosy bystanders. And then when they got home (via the long, scenic route Matsushita had been more than happy to take) she'd milked it for all it was worth. After some hemming and hawing, changing out of her formal attire, a quick nap, and a third glass of juice, she knew she was trying her mother's patience.

"Okay, I'll tell you." Yui swallowed her last bite, then took a deep, slow breath before letting it out in a rushed squeal, "PRINCE AYATO CAME TO OUR CARRIAGE AFTER THE WEDDING!"

"What?!" Hinami jerked out of her chair, wide-eyed. "And you waited this long to tell me?!"

"I wanted to be discreet!" Yui whined.

"My, isn't that a first!"

Yui looked at her with a heavy pout and leaned back in her seat, making a show of buttoning her lips. Begrudgingly Hinami sat back down and considered her younger daughter for a moment.

"Yui, precious," Hinami cooed, and Yui presently wondered if she wanted tea with that sugar, "did the prince talk to you? I need details, darling, what did he say?"

"Hmm," she tapped her chin, pretending to think. "I can't be sure, it all happened so quickly. But I think what he said was, 'Serves me right for choosing a foreigner over your sister.'"

Her mother was quiet for a moment, before her face broke into a broad grin.

"Well! He certainly took his time coming to his senses," the woman giggled, taking a sip of her tea. Then she brightened and looked expectantly to her present daughter. "And Hisako, was she here for any of this? Did she take her chance? What happened next?!"

Yui thrummed with energy, flinging her arms out wide. "Prince Ayato took her along with him and they rode off into the sunset!"

Hinami stared dimly at her, then out the window at the afternoon sun. "Yui, you're making things up again."

"Am I?" Yui asked coyly. She gestured with her eyes to the empty chair between them.

Hinami stared some more.

The doorbell clanged at the end of the hall. "I'll get it!" Yui and Hinami shouted in sync, stumbling from their seats in a mad dash for the front door. Hinami got there first and flung it open to see none other than Captain Hinata of the royal guard standing outside with a carriage waiting for them.

"His Supreme Majesty King Kimito requests an audience with the Baroness Hinami Fukuda," Hinata spared a subtle glance at Yui, "and her daughter, immediately."

"Is anything wrong?" Hinami asked, squeezing Yui's shoulder tightly.

"No, my lady," Hinata replied cheerfully, and flashed her an easygoing grin. "The king demanded that you arrive in style."

The baroness beamed. "Then in style we shall be," she said, and turned to the stairs with a flourish.

While she wasn't looking, Hinata threw Yui a playful wink. She smiled slyly back at him as she closed the doors, which had barely creaked shut before Hinami rounded back and tugged her away by the arm.

"Make haste, Yui!" she exclaimed. "Don't you see? It's your sister's wedding day after all."

* * *

After much fussing and grooming and no more procrastination from Yui, Hinami changed into a finer and sunnier gown than the one from this morning and happily let Yui and herself be whisked away to the palace. She didn't even scold her too much for trying to sit up front with Hinata. Teeth gritted into a brilliant smile, she merely advised her daughter that she wished not to make a scene.

Yui grinned and obeyed, choosing to sit on the side of the carriage where she could peek through and see Hinata and the castle as it loomed ever closer.

Though Hinami was as jittery as Yui by the time Hinata finally pulled up to their destination. She teased at her hair and plucked at the fabric of her dress, but when she stepped out of the carriage, she became an entirely different woman. Floating as if on a cloud, she glided majestically all the way to the great hall and into the throne room, stopping only to curtsy like she was born to do it.

Doing her very best to keep a straight face, Yui curtsied to the court as well before following her mother up the aisle. King Kimito and Queen Ayame were sitting in their thrones atop the royal dais waiting for them, Yui shyly accompanied her mother in a great bow, trying not to smile when Hinami studied Prince Ayato standing between his parents and visibly wondered why Hisako was not there next to him.

"Baroness," King Kimito thundered, his face twisted into a scowl, "did you or did you not lie to Her Royal Majesty, the Queen of Maeda?"

Hinami's face drained of color.

"Choose your words wisely, madam," Queen Ayame added with a surprising firmness in her tone. "They may be your last."

Stammering, Hinami rose from the floor and nervously tented her fingers. "A woman would do practically anything for the love of her daughter, Your Majesties," she said demurely, and gave a high-pitched giggle. "Perhaps I did get a little carried away?"

The king and queen frowned at her, unimpressed.

Daunted by their silence, Hinami went on, "I've a mother's heart, Your Majesty, it's far too tender, and my Hisako is a stubborn thing. You understand how they can be at her age, she got these ideas into her head and I couldn't bring myself to deny her—"

" _Enough_." Kimito held up a hand to silence her, rolling his eyes. "You are accused of bribery and conspiracy as well, do you truly expect us to believe your daughter was the mastermind behind it all?"

Hinami's eyes darted left and right, studying the faces of the court suspiciously.

"I don't know who on earth told you that, Your Majesty," she said importantly, puffing up with indignation, "but they obviously have no idea what they're talking about!"

"Don't I?" came a voice in the crowd.

Hisako emerged from the sidelines, dressed in an even finer gown than this morning – as if she'd just come from another wedding. Her mouth agape, Hinami took in her daughter's appearance and then the meaning of her words hit her.

"You—" she gasped, flying at her in a rage. "You little ingrate! Of all times, how dare you turn on me now?"

Expertly dodging her, Hisako glanced to the king and queen and gave a swooping gesture. "All due respect, do you see what I have to put up with?"

Kimito looked exhausted. "Good lord. Is she always like this?"

"Worse, Your Majesty!" Yui chimed in helpfully.

"Yui, darling," Hinami said through her teeth, incensed, "I'd hate to think you had anything to do with this."

Yui blinked innocently. "Of course not! I'm only here for the sweets."

Hinami snarled quietly, turning back to face the king and queen. "You would take the word of a girl who admits she lied to your face?" she insisted, raising her chin with the rest of her pride. "I will not take the blame in all of this! Hisako is no more innocent than I, will you do nothing about her?"

"She's already been spoken for," said another voice. To Hinami's clear surprise, a well-groomed Masami Iwasawa appeared next to her and took her arm.

"Mother," Hisako broke into a smug grin, "I don't believe you've met… my wife."

A hushed gasp fell over the throne room (featuring a small happy squeak from Yui), but no one was as shocked as the baroness. She opened her mouth and closed it a few times, looking very much like a nervous fish that was caught in a net.

"Hisako has been pardoned, and we will not punish a daughter for being groomed and manipulated by her mother," Queen Ayame said sternly. "But you, Baroness Fukuda, are forthwith stripped of your title, and you alone are to be shipped to the Americas on the next available boat. Unless, by some miracle, someone here will speak for  _you_."

Utter silence. Some people in the crowd coughed.

Hinami glanced around hopefully at the sea of nobles that surrounded her. Yui shook her head and slipped closer to the left, where Hinata was standing with a stone-faced Kanade.

Some avoided her eyes. A few noble ladies she'd once called friends turned up their noses at her. Even the mild-mannered Marquis Ooyama crossed his arms, and the unfamiliar dark-haired man next to him smirked coldly and looked on like she was an insect getting torched.

Not a friendly face in the room. Was there not one soul chivalrous enough to rescue a lady from this fate? Not even Takeyama was here for her now.

"There seems to be quite a few people out of town," Hinami said timidly.

"I will speak for her."

The only thing that made Yui smile more broadly than the priceless expression on her mother's face, as she turned slowly to confront her savior, was the sight of a regal-looking Yuri standing in the doorway. Shimmering like the sun in all her gold and jewels, her arms were crossed in front of a flowing blood-red gown. Nestled atop her mane of carmine-colored hair was a telltale golden crown. Yui grinned proudly and bowed with the rest of the room.

"She is my stepmother, after all," Yuri said.

As the crowd arose, Yui looked gleefully to Hinata and Kanade. The latter's eyes were shining bright, watching Yuri's slow and careful steps across the throne room.

" _Baroness_ ," Ayato spoke up from the dais with a triumphant sneer, "you  _will_ bow before my bride."

The prince's voice woke Hinami from a bewildered trance. Blinking, she closed her mouth and regarded her stepdaughter with a bit of fear. Yuri looked back at her expectantly with a raised brow.

Cutting her gaze away in shame, Hinami knelt low before her stepdaughter. "Your Highness."

"Just so you know," Yuri said cheerily, smiling down at her, "I'll forget you after this moment and never think of you again. But I'm absolutely positive you're going to think of me every single day for the rest of your life."

Hinami swallowed hard, the tremor in her shoulders betraying her composure. "And how long might that be?" she asked, daring a brief glimpse at her out of the corner of her eye.

Yuri considered the woman for a moment, then looked to the king and queen, finding strength in Queen Ayame's supportive smile.

"All I ask, Your Majesties," she said calmly, "is that you show her the same courtesy that she once bestowed upon me."

The king and queen exchanged a glance. This, they could arrange.

* * *

The mystery of Takeyama's disappearance was soon solved. Hinami was shocked to find that he too had been stripped of his fineries and now wore the same dull grey washer uniform they'd given her. They were both banished to the basements of the castle and assigned laundry duty, together.

Truly, she was shocked. Not that he was a man and doing laundry, which he'd been complaining about for the last twenty minutes and calling women's work, but that this was all he'd gotten as punishment. Certainly his crimes were worse than hers!

Sharing the royals' private information with outsiders, stealing jewels from the queen, accepting bribes… honestly, as a servant of the crown, he should know better! Hinami was many things but she was no traitor.

"After you've washed the tablecloths, you can start on the napkins!" the lead washerwoman bellowed to be heard over the commotion. She pointed to a stack of freshly folded linens. "And move those over there!"

Hinami sniffed in distaste, adjusting her over-sized smock. To think,  _her!_ Being ordered around like some common scullery wench!

"Takeyama?" she said impatiently.

He frowned suspiciously at her. "What?"

Nodding over her shoulder, she gestured to the linens. "You heard the woman."

"So did you."

"Yes, but I'm management." Hinami tossed her kerchief over her shoulder and stalked off.

"Like hell you are!" Takeyama rounded the washtub and cut her off, his glasses glinting angrily as he pointed a finger in her face. "You're just the same as I am, a big nobody!"

Hinami gasped. "How  _dare_ you speak to me that way – I am of noble blood!"

"And you are getting on my nerves!" the washerwoman roared, swinging a huge sack of laundry at them with all her might.

The impact sent Hinami and Takeyama flying backwards, tumbling into the giant washtub with a devastating splash. When they emerged from the dyed water, spitting and sputtering and hideously purple, the scullery maids were screaming with laughter.

Dusting her hands off at a job well done, the washerwoman let a smile creep onto her wizened face.

"A regal color, to be sure, but a pain to get out of your skin," she said, her tone horribly chipper, and flounced away. "Now get back to work."

"I'm  _Christ_ ," Takeyama muttered.

Hinami smacked purple water at him and snarled.

* * *

After a long day of rescuing herself, getting married, and serving justice, Yuri accepted Ayato's offer of spending their wedding night at the palace without a fuss. But in the morning, they took the carriage to Nakamura manor.

She and her new husband had discussed things, and included the king and queen in the conversation as well. Although she'd be happy to move into the palace one day, she wanted to at least stay at the manor to get some affairs in order, or until she could find someone to tend to her father's land in her absence. Matsushita and Shiina were a little old for some of the work – and speaking of which, would they be staying at the manor or coming to live with her?

It had already been two weeks since she last saw them and she missed them with all her heart. She couldn't imagine living without them for too long, even if the manor was just a short ride away.

And Ayato had gone from offering to hire new staff for the manor, to conceding they should live there as long as she wished. Whatever she decided, he'd be there for her. He'd spent years trying to escape those castle walls almost every night, after all.

She wasn't ready to decide anything just yet, but… she was happy to be reuniting with her family.

Kind of a shame she missed their reunion with Masami, whom Hisako brought home to her parents the night before, but it only meant they were all lined up in front of the manor together awaiting her homecoming.

The lineup was a little bigger than Yuri anticipated. There was Matsushita and Shiina of course, eager to welcome her back into their arms, and Masami with the remaining Fukudas (was Hisako still a Fukuda? She hadn't asked). But joining Yui was Hinata, her new fiancé, and next to him a very happy-looking Otonashi and Kanade.

The sight of it almost made Yuri choke up, as Ayato came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her middle. What a family she had… and in spite of everything it was still continuing to grow.

Later, Kanade rounded them all into the drawing room for the grand reveal of a small surprise she had for Yuri. With the gentle tug of a cloth, the girl unveiled a splendid portrait of Yuri herself. The background was a pure sky blue, with wisps of clouds and silvery white feathers glowing in the air. The Yuri in the portrait, painted from the shoulders up, looked confident and wise as her lips curved into a cool half-smile.

"Kanade," Yuri breathed, pulling the girl into an embrace, "it's  _wonderful_."

Kanade smiled into her shoulder, then shyly looked away when they parted. "Well, I couldn't have done it without Otonashi."

"Don't believe any of that," Otonashi said quickly with a laugh, turning red. Apparently during Yuri's two week absence, he and Kanade had been spending some time together in each other's studios. "All I did was keep her company while she painted."

"But when you were with me, those were the times that I felt most creative," Kanade considered.

Masami smiled knowingly, her arm around Hisako. "Sometimes that's all it takes."

Turning her attention back to Yuri, Kanade gave a humble nod and half-bow. "Think of it as a belated wedding present, Your Highness."

Behind them, Otonashi lost his blush in favor of a snicker. Yuri turned around to give him a deadpan stare.

"What?" she asked, raising an eyebrow in warning.

"Just can't get over it, is all." Otonashi gave an exaggerated flourish of a bow. " _Your Highness_."

"Hey – royalty or not, I can still whip you!"

Yui smirked as she watched Yuri and Otonashi play fight, and looked to Hinata with a small giggle. "Amateurs," she whispered aside to her fiancé, making him break into a fond grin.

Ayato, who'd been watching this all in mild amusement, suddenly perked up.

"Ah, speaking of belated wedding presents," he said, and revealed a small velvet bag from behind his back. As Yuri curiously drew near to her husband, he handed her the gift and watched expectantly as she untied the strings and let the contents fall into her hands.

A book? No, wait…

Yuri gasped.  _It couldn't be!_

"Hisako told me there was… an incident," Ayato explained, while Yuri lovingly traced Utopia's threaded title with a finger. "She thought – well, we  _agreed_  – it might be nice to at least get you a replacement."

So that's where he disappeared to last night? Surprised, Yuri looked to her stepsister, who was biting her lip.

"I know it's not the copy your father got you," Hisako said, a little unsurely and kind of avoiding her eyes at first. "But since it's your favorite and all, I figured a new copy would still mean something if it came from your new husband."

"Wow, Hisako, that sounds a lot like an apology," Yuri teased.

"And incredibly enough, it came out of the goodness of her heart." Grinning, Masami caught Hisako in mid-eyeroll with a proud kiss.

"Hey, stranger things have happened," Hisako said, looking chuffed. "Did you hear about the Marquis Ooyama? Word has it he's been seeing a guildsman."

Ayato and Yuri shared an intrigued glance, and she felt herself smiling so hard her cheeks hurt. She hadn't seen so much happiness in this house in ten years. Masami and Hisako in their own unique wedded bliss, Shiina contentedly leaning into Matsushita's arms, Kanade and Otonashi talking to each other about the painting but clearly admiring each other more… She caught Yui's gaze across the room, the younger girl clearly radiant as she was taking in the same family-wide happiness.

This kind of camaraderie and chaotic peace, it was something she could definitely get used to…

"Okay, what is that you're humming?" Ayato demanded, pointing a finger at Hinata.

"Yeah," said Yui, looking at him with interest. "It sounds really familiar for some reason, but I can't put my finger on it."

Hinata scratched the back of his neck. "It's the song Iwasawa was singing when we went to rescue them yesterday." He laughed, embarrassed. "It's been stuck in my head ever since."

Yui brightened immediately, turning to Masami. "Which one?" she asked excitedly. "Was it Crow Song? Was it Alchemy? Was it Hot Meal? Oh, I need to tell you about the one I wrote while you were gone!"

Blinking, Masami smiled sheepishly at Hinata and Yui.

"Oh, that?" she said, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "It was just something I wrote to lift my spirits when we were working for Tomita."

"From what I remember, we never heard the end of it," Hinata prodded, rubbing his chin.

"It's nothing special," Masami said modestly, reaching for her guitar. She glanced to Yui with an encouraging smile. "Yui, you wrote a song while I was gone?"

"Yeah," Yui said excitedly, "it's called Shine Days!"

"Let's hear it—"

"No!" Hisako burst out, intercepting and pushing the guitar back into Masami's arms. "I've already heard her this week, she can't sing and play guitar at the same time."

" _HEY!_ " Yui protested. "Yes I can, I sound great!"

Hisako scoffed at her, then turned back to Masami with a soft smile. "C'mon, songbird, sing it again for us."

"Yeah, what's it called anyway?" Yuri asked, as yesterday she'd been a bit curious herself.

Masami hesitated at first, but removed a guitar pick from her necklace and returned Hisako's smile.

"My Most Precious Treasure," she answered, and began to play.

" _kao o awashitara kenka shite bakari,  
sore mo ii omoide datta…_

" _kimi ga oshietekureta nda mou kowaku nai  
donna fujiyuu demo shiawase wa tsukameru dakara…_

" _hitori demo yuku yo tatoe tsurakute mo_  
kimi to mita yume wa kanarazu motteku yo  
kimi to ga yokatta hoka no dare demo nai  
demo mezameta asa kimi wa inai nda ne…

" _zutto asondereru sonna ki ga shiteta_  
ki ga shiteita dake wakatteru  
umaretekita koto mou koukai wa shinai  
matsuri no ato mitai samishii kedo sorosoro ikou…"

While everyone else listened closely, quietly entranced by Masami's song, Yui leaning against Hinata's chest and Otonashi hardly even realizing his arm had come around Kanade's shoulders, Ayato harrumphed slightly and side-eyed Yuri.

"Is it just me, or isn't this song a little depressing?" he snickered to his wife.

" _doko made mo yuku yo koko de shitta koto  
shiawase to iu yume o kanaetemiseru yo…"_

Yuri elbowed him, trying to hide a smirk as she remembered how Masami once put in a good word for him. "You, sir, are supposed to be charming."

Laughing, Ayato took her by the hands. "And we, princess, are supposed to live happily ever after."

"Says who?" she countered, raising her eyebrows challengingly.

" _kimi to hanarete mo donna ni tooku natte mo  
atarashii asa ni atashi wa ikiru yo…"_

Ayato looked surprised as he thought about it for a moment.

"You know…" Shaking his head, he gave a small scoff of laughter. "I don't know."

Yuri giggled too. Squeezing his hands in hers, she leaned in and kissed her new husband deeply. He returned the kiss with zeal, freeing his hands to cradle her face and resting against her forehead when they parted with a grin.

" _hitori demo yuku yo shinitaku natte mo_  
koe ga kikoeru yo shinde wa ikenai to  
tatoe tsurakute mo samishisa ni naite mo  
kokoro no oku ni wa nukumori o kanjiru yo..

Whether or not their tale went into the history books, it didn't matter to her. Nor how their story was going to end. All that mattered was that he was part of it. That her family was part of it.

And from now on, they'd be facing the world together.

" _megutte nagarete toki wa utsuroi da_  
mou nani ga atta ka omoidasenai kedo  
me o tojitemireba dareka no waraigoe  
nazeka sore ga ima ichiban no takaramono."

* * *

" _dekireba kokoro no mama ni ikou ookina chizu o egakou  
hate wa atashitachi shidai mugendai da yo"_

( _If we can, let's follow our hearts. Let's draw a great map.  
The end depends on us - it's infinite.)_

~ "Shine Days" – Girls Dead Monster


End file.
